Exchanged
by Fenikkusuken
Summary: COMPLETE An AR storyline. Rhiannon Tanaka Johnson, in Tokyo on a work exchange, is dumped into a dangerous youkai civil war, with a price on her head and an icy demon lord as her protector. Rated for violence and sexual situations.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Don't own any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters; this storyline is mine, however.

Enjoy!

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Culture Shock**

Why was I doing this again?

I had asked myself that nearly every morning for the past two weeks, as I rolled up the futon and put it away in preparation for leaving for work. I still didn't have an answer that thrilled me, and all the reasons why I was subjecting myself to this particular brand of culture-shock-torture had fled the scene posthaste.

Grumbling, I dropped my overnight bag and slumped in the corner of the elevator as it jerked and began its descent, and sorted though my mental files labelled Why-This-Seemed-Like-A-Good-Idea-At-The-Time.

It was all my grandmother's fault. Yup. Has to somebody's, so might as well be hers. She had always wanted to return to Japan before she died; she never had the opportunity. My whole life, she'd told me stories about the country, the culture, what it had been like as a child growing up in Occupied Japan. She was born a month after the Nagasaki bombing; she met my grandpa and married him when she was just eighteen. I loved their wedding photos; Grandma, dark and petite and perfect in her beautiful kimono, stored who-knows-where during the war, holding the elaborate fan in delicate fingers, shyly looking up at Grandpa, a six-foot-four, All-American blond-haired, blue-eyed Marine lieutenant, _sir_! Grandpa died when my mom was just six years old, in a helicopter crash in Vietnam.

My mom grew up a height-challenged, slender, dark-haired beauty that was able to talk her way into and out of trouble (most of the time), went to college, and married my dad, another six-foot-plus blond linebacker originally from Ohio. I was born when she was nineteen. What is it with short women attracting tall guys? I won't have that problem; I'm five-eleven in my socks, so I'd have to be scoping the LA Lakers to have the same height differential as Grandma and Grandpa!

Oh, right. I was trying to work up a good dose of self-pity, wasn't I? Back to work… I managed to make it all the way to the subway before I noticed where I was, and as luck would have it, my train had just pulled in. I squeezed my way onto the car, trying to avoid the men in white gloves. I was never sure if they pushed my butt by 'accident', but I tried to avoid letting them make it a habit. Maybe I was depriving them of their only decent thrill of the day…

So, anyways, here I am two months later, in Tokyo, hanging onto the overhead straps, heading towards the Tomogawa Electronics Corporation tower located in the Shinjuku district, to spend another day trying to make data entry more exciting. I'm actually a software developer; when the word came around my office in San Jose that head office was looking for people to do a job exchange, I signed right up. I figured it would be an opportunity to visit some of Grandma's old stomping grounds, and get paid to do it, plus have cheap accommodation in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Boy, it hasn't been anything like what I expected.

First of all, instead of doing software development, they've put me into data entry _for_ the software developers. Apparently the glass ceiling in Japan is a little lower and a lot thicker than in the good old USA. For this I went to UCLA? If the chicky doing my job back in California is only a data clerk, my files are gonna be a disaster by the time I get back. She's not responding to my emails, and my boss just sent one back to the effect 'not to worry, things are going great!', complete with one of those little smiley-things, so I know it's an unmitigated disaster. Oh, goody.

Where shall I begin my whining? How about the company-supplied apartment? Not only is it so far away from the office that my morning commute cuts into my much-needed beauty sleep, but it is about the same size as my mom's walk-in closet. A very basic kitchen and a bedroom/living room occupy around one hundred square feet, and a teeny-tiny bathroom gets another generous fifteen or so. All the clichés about swinging cats, and going outside to change my mind definitely hold true. A big cupboard holds my clothes, and the bedding, and that's it. Oh, there's a wall-mounted TV, too, but it only receives NHK, so fat lot of good _that _does.

At work, California Casual just don't make it onto the map, so I'm absolutely _thrilled_ to be encased in a demure outfit that Grandma might have worn to church in the '50s; navy or dark grey suit with sensible skirt and a fussy little white blouse with one of those girly Peter Pan collars. Please; I'm twenty-three, not thirteen. And oh, boy, does the outfit go nicely with my waist-length brown curly hair, which in a fit of funkiness just before I left, I had done with red and gold highlights. That, coupled with being taller than most of the men in the office and my blue eyes, just about did in most of the personnel on the first day.

How did I ever think I was going to fit in? My skintone is almost right; golden cream, but the rest of me screams 'gaijin' at the top of its lungs, so most people aren't too sure what to make of me. My name also sends most off to fits of giggles, of course politely hidden behind their hands, which is another thing that drives me bananas.

Oh, you want to have a go, too? My name is Rhiannon Tanaka Johnson. What can I say? I'm from California, and my mom was going through a heavy Fleetwood Mac phase around the time I was born. I'm just grateful she didn't call me 'Stevie'; the upshot is, no-one can say my first name right, so now I'm known as 'Rin-chan' to my friends and 'Tanaka-san' to everyone else. My poor dad doesn't even get recognized for his contribution.

Anyways, at least today is Friday, and I only have to suffer until 6:00, when Mariko, Hiromi, Naoko, and Kazu have something 'special' in store for me to do with them tonight. Thank the heavens that it won't be another karaoke bar; I'm not good at smiling serenely as somebody butchers what everybody assumes is my 'theme song'. Which one is it? You get three guesses, and the first two don't count…

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Anime Knights**

Well, _that _was interesting.

After work, the girls, already giggling insanely like there was something other than green tea in their cups this afternoon, made short work of dragging me off with them. It's too far to go back to my elegantly appointed broom-closet, so I brought my stuff to stay overnight at Kazu's place. It is about the same size as mine, but her roommate is staying over at her boyfriend's place, so there's space on the futon for me. Apparently, that's where we are _all_ going to get changed to go out tonight; we'll have to take numbers and wait in the hall, I suspect. Oh, what I wouldn't do for a cold Kirin about now!

Try squashing five fully-grown women into a hundred square feet, and then have them get changed, hair done and makeup applied. No privacy issues or sharp elbows here.

The big surprise was that we were going to hang out in the Asakuza district, which I thought was a little out of the way, but apparently one of its charms is that it _isn't_ over run by horny white guys looking to pick up Asian girls, like Roppongi. No, we were going to check out an anime zone, populated by fangirls and boys, and we have to look the part.

I point-blank refused to do Sailor Moon, Mars, Mercury or _whatever._

No sweat. They had already decided that I was going to be Witch Hunter Robin, complete with gravity-defying ponytails. I could cope with the long black trench coat and even the Dracula's-bitch dress. The little half-moon granny glasses were a bit weird, but the pendant Hiromi produced was very cool. Naoko couldn't wait to get her hands on my hair; the curls seem to fascinate everybody, and they all had a go at combing it. Naoko twisted my hair, and retwisted it and then twisted it again before she was happy with how the ponytails stuck out. Don't ask me how she held it all together, but man, my scalp ached the next day! Fortunately, the character of Robin Sena doesn't wear much makeup, so all I had to do was climb into the dress, supplied by Hiromi's sister (where could she have worn a black Victorian wedding-style dress?), zip up the heeled boots I brought from home, and shrug into the trench coat. I think I would have preferred being 'The Matrix', but hey, we can't have everything, can we?

The subway ride into Asakuza was a hoot. The closer we came, the more the car filled up with people dressed as anime characters; it was like stumbling on a smoke pit outside a convention centre back home. We hit the station, and had to have a last-minute inspection by Kazu, our self-appointed mother hen, before we were allowed to exhibit ourselves to the general public.

There are an awful lot of people with an awful lot of time on their hands to make costumes in this country.

The main 'stroll', for want of a less shady term, was two blocks from the station. We hardly drew any second looks from anybody, which was a bit disheartening after all the effort. Kazu was a very boss Full Metal Alchemist Lt. Riza Hawkeye, blonde wig and all. Naoko and Mariko were seriously skirt-challenged as Sailors Mars and Mercury, and Hiromi was sweetly innocent as Akane Tendo. I suspected she kept her high-school uniform just to do this on weekends. I was blown away by the quality of some of the costumes on display, the wearers sauntering along the road like some kind of anime-pride parade.

Over there, three girls as the characters of Magic Knight Rayearth, complete with body armour and swords. A whole 'pack', so to speak, of Wolf's Rain characters. Three ZAFT Forces pilots chatting amicably with four others dressed in Earth Alliance garb. Nobody brought their mobile suits; darn. A few couples were dressed as Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne from the same series (the pink hair on the latter was hard to miss), and I spotted at least one flaming-haired Fllay Allster with a Yzak Jule. Interesting. An Amon from Witch Hunter Robin ghosted along; he only came up to my shoulder. Miroku and Sango from Inuyasha were also much in evidence, probably because the costumes were easy, not because the couples were into sadism by way of smacks to the chops; but there was a fair bit of that for realism.

As we meandered along, the girls giggling and peeking through their fingers at some of the buff Naruto boys we passed, we reached the epicentre of the whole thing; the crowd in front of us parted, like the Red Sea, except it sure as hell wasn't Moses who came towards us.

It was Sesshomaru.

Damn. This guy was _good_, so far as I could judge, going by the manga Hiromi brought to the office every day to read at lunch. He had the whole shtick down pat; white kimono and hakama, black half-boots, spiky breastplate-thingy, big furry boa, not one but _two_ swords (were those legal?), really nifty silver wig that reached down past his butt, and some impressive makeup. He even had the pointy ears happening. As he came closer to us, oblivious to the admiring glances being darted at him, I noticed that he was _tall_. Taller by a few inches than me, and I was about six-two in the boots.

He came to a stop right in front of our group, gazing at us with yellow eyes. The contact lenses even gave him slit pupils; man, this guy was over the top! I wondered, briefly, if the facial stripes were actual tattoos, and winced at how much that must have hurt, if it was the case.

I was very surprised when the girls bowed away from him, Hiromi murmuring something that sounded like "Lord Sesshomaru" deferentially. I stood my ground; I wasn't going to feed this guy's ego. He stood, regarding me with a sardonic look on his handsome face. Well, at least it would have been handsome, if it hadn't been marked up with two red stripes per cheek and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. He started towards me; I swirled the trench coat around me, as if I was really going to fry him à la Robin. He paused, and then continued, an irritating smirk on his face, until he was barely a yard away. I lifted my chin to look him directly in the eye; _I_ wasn't going to pay him court.

"This is your first visit, is it not, _Robin_?" His voice was cool silk, full of mocking amusement.

"I didn't realize that there were so many tall female characters that you might confuse us, _your lordship_."

The icy bastard smirked, then proceeded to circle me, giving me a thorough once-over, before pausing, and catching me under the chin with his authentically-clawed fingers.

"I'll look forward to seeing you again, _Huntress_." He floated away. All he needed was a green midget following him to complete the set. I was too startled at him _touching me_ in public, to do much more than glare daggers at his perfectly-coiffed wig.

The girls pounced. Hiromi was nearly in hysterics.

"Rin-chan! What an honour! Lord Sesshomaru _never _talks to anyone, except to his friends that dress like Inuyasha and Kagome; you really made an impression!"

I twirled the pendant around my finger. "An honour? Getting publicly groped by a complete stranger is an honour? There are a lot of things I don't understand in this country… this guy is really something important on the street?"

"Oh, yes! He's been here for a long time; trust us, it's a very big deal that he came over to speak to you, and on your first visit, too."

I couldn't help shaking my head at Hiromi's near-teary pronouncements. This guy obviously needed to spend more time in the real world; and so did Hiromi, for that matter. She was treating 'Sesshomaru' like he was a real person, not somebody dressed up. Mind you, he was so very tall and slender, like the character; wonder who _his _daddy was?

Kazu announced she needed a beer; I heartily seconded that motion, and we found a bar that wasn't too dank for some refreshments, before loitering our way back down the street and heading for the subway station. Hiromi was still babbling about 'Lord Sesshomaru' and how lucky I was to be noticed; I finally asked her if she had the guy confused with the character; that shut her up.

We stayed up at Kazu's for another couple of hours. I watched her waste several characters in Halo while drinking another beer, before we unrolled the futon and collapsed onto it.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Dog Bite**

I am definitely _not_ doing this again. Nope. No way. Not even if the request comes with a whole week off work just for me, with buff anime boys on call to fulfill every fantasy.

That's what I said the morning after our little foray, when my teeth were still fuzzy and my face unwashed, and my scalp _aching_ from those damn ponytails. Kazu only laughed, before handing me an opened container of natto for breakfast. Sadistic bitch. Luckily I wasn't hung over, or I'd have redecorated her tiny bathroom for her. _Geez,_ does that stuff ever _smell_! Screw the "it's good for you" crap.

As Friday wheeled around again, Hiromi began sizing me up speculatively; the Terrible Trio were obviously putting their heads together. I paused in her cubicle on Thursday afternoon, on my way for a bottle of water. "Hiromi-chan, whatever you are scheming in that inventive little head of yours, you can just forget it, especially if it involves 'Lord Sesshomaru'. I'd rather go to a karaoke bar and sing Celine Dion…"

"Oh, Rin-chan…you _have_ to come. We've been working on a new costume for you _all week_!" Her big brown eyes were even bigger. I hate puppy-dog eyes, mainly since my blue ones don't do the job as well. I sighed.

"Let me think about it; I don't believe Kazu-chan has room tomorrow."

"Mariko-chan says you can stay with her! Please say you'll come, Rin-chan?"

I heaved a rather large sigh. "Okay, Hiromi-chan…I'll let you know by the end of the day." I had barely sat down again at my desk when Mariko popped her head over the partition.

"I'm so glad you are coming, Rin-chan! It'll be great this time; you just wait and see!" I slowly banged my head on my keyboard, and considered taking up an invitation from a rather good-looking Naval lieutenant to go visit the base on Tokyo Bay, just to throw myself overboard.

So, here we were again, except the venue was Mariko's slightly larger apartment, as in "shoebox" instead of "broom closet", and our numbers were going to be increased by Dai, Seiji, Moto and Jin. The boys were meeting us at the subway station on the way to Asakusa District. Naoko mentioned that they were coming as characters from Dragon Ball Z. Bright orange _gis_ would be fairly easy to spot, and possibly avoid. Moto gave me the creeps, to be quite frank. He had a permanent leer on his face, like he had a remote camera hidden in the women's washroom or something.

Hiromi came perilously close to death when she held out the kimono, a huge grin lighting her face. Apparently, I was going to be the 'Rin' character from Inuyasha; just a whole lot bigger. Like nearly six-feet-tall bigger. Naoko and Mariko had equally blinding smiles; Kazu was laughing her ass off.

"Hiromi-chan, haven't you forgotten something? 'Rin' is what, six years old? I appreciate your confidence that I can pull off a character, but I don't think anybody's imagination can stretch quite _that_ far!"

Hiromi was not to be dissuaded. "Nonsense. You'll look elegant, just like 'Rin' all grown up. _Please_, Rin-chan, do it for me?"

I growled. "The name's _Rhiannon,_ don't forget; and I'm definitely feeling kind of _witchy_ right now…"

I put on the cream hakama and juban and then the apricot silk kimono. It was almost long enough; I thanked her silently for not making me tangle with the traditional slip instead of the pants. Hiromi refused to say which sister had contributed it; I had a feeling there was an empty package in the family storage cupboard that had contained a very expensive _furisode_ kimono. Mariko tied the fancy knot at the back, and then Naoko went to work on my hair. She combed it and put some kind of oil on it to make it glossy, then gave me a side part with a piece pulled aside and secured with a tortoiseshell comb. No goofy little ponytail, thank goodness. She then went to work on my face. The girl should do stage makeup; she's really quite good. By the time she was finished, I had a full anime-makeup job, even though I still felt a little silly.

The things you do because of peer pressure.

On the subway, I refused to sit down because I didn't want to get the kimono dirty. Motto smarmily suggested that I could sit on his lap; he got first-degree burns from the glares levelled at him by the rest of us. I pointedly moved to the next set of hanging straps and turned my back on him. Hiromi, garbed this time as Cigalli Yula Attha from Gundam Seed with Kazu's blonde wig rearranged, covered my back. Kazu was dressed as Poala from Beet, and she spent the rest of the trip polishing her knuckle-duster meaningfully on her pants. Naoko and Mariko were tarted up as girls from Chobits with ears, fishnets and clip-in hair extensions. Those two really liked their short skirts…

I led the way off down the street, the rest of the girls forming a barrier between Motto and me; Dai and Jin, dressed as Goku and Trunks, helped them out. Moto was Vegeta; glad he chose a character that suited him. Seiji was Athrun Zalla from Gundam Seed; the way Hiromi turned sweetly pink when he fell into step beside her made me think there was maybe something up between the two of them.

Once we reached the stroll, I spotted a couple of tall costumed white guys. I veered off to chat; the blond one was a very orange Naruto, and his black-haired buddy was Sasuke, with his tiny girlfriend as Sakura in day-glo pink hair. They were university exchange students, and we had just swapped phone numbers to get together for a beer, when we were rudely interrupted.

"Oi! Wench! You gonna keep people waiting, or what?"

I turned around. 'Inuyasha' was standing there, arms crossed into the nearly ankle-length sleeves of his florid red outfit, scruffy looking sword hilt poking out from under his arm, silver wig swishing…hey, cool! His dog ears actually moved! Fascinated, I watched those realistic appendages flicker, and then wondered if he'd show me the wiring necessary under the wig. He was even _barefoot_. Talk about taking everything to the nth degree… He also had golden contact lenses, like 'Sesshomaru', and an authentic attitude. I straightened up to my full height, and gave him my best 'frosted' look.

"I wasn't aware that I was keeping anybody waiting, actually."

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Rin…Kagome wants to meet you, Sesshomaru's cranky, and I don't like doing the 'fetch' thing."

I folded my hands inside of the sleeves, and cocked my head to one side. "I think I object to being compared to a tennis ball; I've already had the pleasure of his lordship's attention, thank you, and don't wish for a repeat encounter. I think I'll rejoin my friends, and you can stop feeling put-upon by yours." I was sweeping by him, my nose in the air, when he gripped my elbow and fell into step beside me. "Hey!" I snapped, yanking away. "Hands off, buddy! Who do you think you are?"

He didn't answer, just caught my arm again, and sped up, tugging me along.

"Oi, Sesshomaru! You _sure_ about this one? She's awfully feisty, and kind of on the lanky side…"

I was framing a really bitchy retort, when he let me go, and I found myself facing a dainty woman with beautiful grey eyes dressed in a green and white high-school uniform and carrying a bow. 'Kagome' was bang-on the character, except this version was older; about twenty-five, I guessed, but her figure was spectacular, and the warm smile was radiant. She searched my face, smiling brightly; I instantly rearranged my features from a scowl into a smile, and bowed slightly to her. "Pleased to meet you, uh, 'Kagome-san'."

"You have lovely blue eyes, Rin-chan! And you're so tall!" I was wincing over her use of the familiar, but then I remembered that 'Rin' was a little girl in the anime, so if I was going to play along with them, then I had to go by their terms. Except I'd rather be _eaten_ by wolves than say 'Lord Sesshomaru' to _his _face. 'Kagome' took my other arm; she barely came up to my chin. Nattering cheerfully about my costume, she gently ushered me along, 'Inuyasha' falling in behind, until we came within striking range of 'Sesshomaru'. He was standing in front of a black sports car; apparently zipping around as a ball of light had lost its appeal. Whoa …is that a BMW Z4…? I mentally slapped myself. Bad girl. No tire-biting the anime-loser's hot wheels.

His face may have been composed into a study in boredom, but his creepy golden eyes were glowing intensely. I stopped, giving him as coolly regal a look as I could muster. With 'Kagome' holding one arm, and 'Inuyasha' breathing down my neck, they had me neatly trapped, and his lordship was coming closer. I suddenly had a great sympathy with untold thousands of deer peering into the darkness at those twin beams of light…

I had to lift my chin to keep eye contact, my jaw tightening. We were nearly chest-to-breastplate, close enough that I could almost number his individual eyelashes. They were ridiculously long, for a guy, come to think of it. He didn't say anything; his nostrils were flaring as he inclined his head even closer to me and _sniffed_ my ear delicately. Stifling the urge to bat him away, I concentrated on his cheek stripes. The lines were so cleanly etched and the colour so deep…damn. Maybe they _were_ tattoos…eeyew. Definitely not dating material, if I had even the slightest inclination. Guys with facial tattoos just aren't doctors or lawyers in real life…

"I have finally found you." It was a statement, not a question. I snapped my eyes to his; the look of confusion on my face must have been pretty obvious, because the bastard _smiled_…and so did his eyes. That sudden thawing and the molten character it gave his golden irises suddenly made him seem…rather attractive. I toyed with telling him that he ought to smile more often, but was forestalled by him lightly stroking my cheek with the back of his index finger. As if that wasn't enough, he leaned in and brushed my forehead with his lips. "My Rin…"

I was suddenly aware of being the focus of attention of about, oh, three hundred people, give or take a dozen, and some of them were doing the "oh, isn't that _sweeeeet_," thing. Ah, yes, there's nothing quite like being in the centre ring of my favourite spectator sport: public humiliation.

I scooted sideways, away from the three of them, and then backed up a bit more. 'Kagome' looked startled; 'Inuyasha' was smirking, and 'Sesshomaru' appeared bemused. Dai and Jin stepped up to flank me; where were they when I really needed them, about five minutes ago? I swung my hair over my shoulder, and addressed the three in front of me.

"Excuse me, but I don't believe we've been formally introduced; I object to being _manhandled_ by complete strangers." I decided to show them a thing or two; maybe they thought the gaijin was too stupid to know the score. I squared up, and bowed very deeply to the woman. "I wish you a pleasant evening, 'Kagome-san'." She gracefully returned it. 'Inuyasha', face and ears twitching, looking like he was about to split a gut, didn't bother to return my barely-low-enough-to-be-polite bow. I paused a moment, and then stiffly inclined my head towards 'Sesshomaru'. "Good evening, _your lordship_; try not to assault any other innocent women. I don't think that nice white kimono would stay very clean in a police lockup." He said and did nothing, just followed me with those owl-yellow eyes.

I spun around, the kimono skirts flaring out nicely to punctuate my action, and strode back down the street in what I hoped was a dignified retreat, the boys keeping pace at my elbows. I glanced over my shoulder; Moto had started following us, but Kazu yanked him back and shoved him rather roughly onto a bench, with an obvious warning to stay put, before she jogged to catch up, grabbing Mariko on the way.

We were safely on the subway before I let my irritation out. "_Who_ does that creep think he _is_? The nerve of some people…I should have punched him out, instead of letting him get that close…I feel like I need to _wash_." The boys and Kazu stayed very quiet; Mariko made soothing noises, and I quickly subsided. I wondered if Mariko had cold beer at her place. I was desperately in need of one.

_But_…a little annoying voice wheedled in my head. _His touch felt good…and his lips were very soft_… Mentally rolling my eyes, I told the voice to shut up, and leave the mooning to Hiromi. This was definitely my last visit to Asakusa.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**River Cruise**

Having declared that publicly, of course, the very next day, where did I find myself?

I called Dave and Josh, the Naruto boys, early the next afternoon to see about making a date to go out with them and Dave's girlfriend. They had already decided to take a cruise up the Sumida River through the heart of Tokyo, so I invited myself along. The cruise started just at dusk, when the major bridges over it lit up, each one a different colour, and highlighting the type of construction. Unfortunately we were too early for the July fireworks display over the Ryogoku bridge, but that was okay. It kind of sounded like a Seine River cruise in Paris, which had been interesting, but it was really the chance to babble about home that I was looking forward to.

We caught the sight-seeing boat at the Hinode Pier, and settled in for the ride. Dave's girlfriend, Sayaka, was delightful, and made me feel welcome, as did Josh. Dave was a little more distant, but he thawed out quickly enough when he heard about my job back in California. Turns out he was hoping to get work in Redmond with the Microsoft colossus as a software marketer. Josh was a programmer; I gave him my card to call me when we both got back stateside.

The cruise ended at the Asakusa bridge, and we decided to go for a drink to warm up a bit. The evening breezes off the river were a little chilly. We found a nice bar not far from the bridge, and had a couple apiece to prolong the night. It had been very nice, but I found I was missing _home_ quite a bit. I decided to call San Jose as soon as I could, just to hear my mom's voice, and be teased a bit by my dad. Heck, I'd even be nice to my rotten little brother if he answered. Boy, absence _does_ make the heart grow fonder.

It was after midnight when we strolled in the general direction of the subway station, then Sayaka had a conniption because she'd forgotten her purse at the bar. She and Dave toodled off to retrieve it, while Josh and I hung out on a bench to wait for them. We were chatting about minor things, favourite movies and music, when I noticed a group of men in dark clothing heading purposefully in our direction. Something about them appeared menacing; people were scattering before them, or dodging into doorways to get out of their way. _Yakuza_ thugs out on a protection stroll? I wondered. They were definitely pointed in our direction. They were still half a block away, when I grabbed Josh's arm and pulled him upright, interrupting him in mid-sentence.

"Let's go…we need to put some distance between us and these guys." He spluttered something about Dave and Sayaka; I jerked him into a walk. "I just don't like the look of this," I whispered, bustling him along. "We'll head for the bridge, and then circle back for them to get out of these guys' way, okay?" Josh finally gave in, and we trotted briskly down to the end of the block, and turned left. I kept him moving smartly, checking over my shoulder frequently to see where the gang was headed. At the corner we had just passed, the group split, half continuing straight, while the other half followed us. Josh started to get nervous then, and we started jog-walking, until the next corner, where we darted into traffic to cross the street, and then fairly ran up the next block. Our pursuers kept following us. Josh spotted the signs for the bridge one block over; we kept up our pace until we reached it. A posted sign indicated the presence of a police station across the bridge; we were saved.

Or maybe not.

A shoulder check confirmed that yes, we were still being followed. We ran onto the span, which seemed strangely deserted for a major bridge across the Sumida. We were partway across, when we both saw the other half of the gang lounging against the bollards on the other side. They must all have been recent Olympic sprinters to have reached this point before us.

Things were not, as they say, looking good for us. Josh and I huddled against the railing, looking both ways at the groups of men, who now that they had us cornered, were sauntering along like they were out for an innocent evening stroll. They reminded me, suddenly, of carrion birds swooping lazily in to clean up a road kill.

A kill. That's what we were going to be. My stomach instantly tied itself into a large knot, and I broke out into a cold sweat.

Josh suddenly gripped my arm, nearly making me scream. "Get up onto the railing!" he hissed. "You can jump into the river and let it carry you down to the next bridge, where that boat was tied up…you can swim, can't you?"

"Enough not to drown…I don't know, Josh…what about you?."

"I can cope…it's your only hope, Rhiannon. I think these guys have something nastier in mind than tea and polite conversations… please, just do_ it_!" I obeyed him; he boosted me up onto the broad metal railing and I sat, legs dangling over the side. The river below swirled into little dark whirlpools where it passed the bridge supports; but it was looking safer than the bridge deck at this moment.

Josh stepped away from me, towards the nearer of the two groups. His voice was remarkably steady, considering. "Good evening, gentlemen…do you have something you'd like to discuss with this lady and myself?"

I heard a short, derisive laugh. I looked over my shoulder. The leader of the nearer group came to a stop three or four yards away from Josh; the other group stopped about fifty feet away. Its members seemed to be more concerned about preventing any other witnesses from getting too close. I started shivering.

"Oooh, he has _blue_ eyes! Brothers, when was the last time we had blue eyes to savour?"

"Hmmm, I think it was…oh, yes, now I remember; '05, Tsushima Straits, wasn't it? They were especially delicious flavoured by the salt water, as I recall. No, no…my mistake…it was '45, Okinawa, I'm sure of it."

"You'll have to draw lots, since there are only two of them up for grabs." I _knew_ that voice!

"What about the girl? Hers are an even more _delicious_ shade of blue…"

"The Mistress has other plans for the Lady Rin." I wriggled around so that I could see the speaker more clearly.

"_Moto_!"

My co-worker leered nastily around his index finger, which was picking away at his front teeth. Josh, misunderstanding, relaxed a bit and half turned to me. His body completed the manoeuvre; his head bounced across the bridge deck.

The response from the gang was immediate. As a group, they dove on Josh's body and began _pecking_ at it, tearing off pieces of fabric and flesh. Their dark clothing became iridescent; feathers grew from their shoulders, their arms morphed into wings, their legs shrivelling and sharpening into menacing bare claws. Glistening razor-sharp beaks rose and fell.

They were _ravens_! I must have screamed the last word out loud.

"Yes, my dear Lady Rin, we are raven-youkai…and we have orders to bring you to the Mistress' presence; _alive_, unfortunately." I tore my eyes away from the seething mass of black feathers that had my protector under it and met Moto's cold beady eye. What I saw there froze the blood in my veins. I realized that he was about to move towards me; the speed that he had used to dispatch Josh made me realize I had _no time_ to react.

So I jumped.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**A/N** I'll apologize if I mistakenly maligned the Asakusa district; I needed an area near a bridge over the Sumida, and the guidebooks said it was a noted entertainment district until mid-century. The area also had to be on a major subway line, and near a bridge for this story to work. So, _Gomen nasai_ if I muffed it…but it's my story, and I'll fudge if I want to!

The 1905 Battle of Tsushima Straits saw the Japanese navy wiping out the pride of the Russian navy after it had sailed all the way around the world. 1945 Battle of Okinawa saw the first Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands in WW II.Both battleswere dark, nasty and desperate…


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: All I possibly own is the storyline…Takahashi-sama owns the characters!

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ**

"_Yes, my dear Lady Rin, we are raven-youkai…and we have orders to bring you to the Mistress' presence; alive, unfortunately." I tore my eyes away from the seething mass of black feathers that had my protector under it and met Moto's cold beady eye. What I saw there froze the blood in my veins. I realized that he was about to move towards me; the speed that he had used to dispatch Josh made me realize I had no time to react._

_So I jumped._

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Exchanged: Part Two**

**Deep Water**

I heard a raucous _caw_, and a flurry of feathers above me; I tried not to think about what it would feel like to be grabbed by giant man-eating ravens. I folded my arms tight to my chest, and hoped that the water would take me first.

I never found out if the water was as cold as it looked.

There was a flash of light, and then the wind was knocked out of me as I was grabbed firmly out of mid-air. I froze, my eyes shut tight, trying to tuck myself into a ball. My face was jammed into something firm, covered by something soft. I was gripped by strong arms…no talons.

"Oi, wench…do you mind helping me out by hanging on? You ain't exactly a dainty little thing, and I went through a lot of trouble to catch you…"

_That_ voice. I opened my eyes. All I could see was red and silver. Inhaling carefully, I tried to rationally examine what was in front of me. Red fabric. Really _soft_ red fabric covering someone's shoulder. Silver hair streaming in the wind. Very cautiously, I peeked over towards the owner of the body parts.

My eyes must have been the size of dinner plates, because Inuyasha just grinned cheekily at me, and took advantage of my relaxing body to shift me closer against him. "I'd get a grip, wench…got some major whiplash coming up."

"Hold on…where?" I'm not sure where my voice came from.

"Shoulders, chest, where ever… Just keep it above the waist… Hang on tight…here we go!"

I screamed, and grabbed his shoulders in a death grip, squeezing my eyes shut. He just laughed, as both of our bodies quivered from the shock of his landing and the recoil of his takeoff. Four or six more violent direction-changes, punctuated by stomach-losing drops followed by near weightlessness, and I was wrung out like a limp noodle. Thankfully, he seemed to be slowing slightly.

"It's okay, Rin…I don't think anything got past Sesshomaru and the others, so we'll go to the rendezvous point and wait for him…you can pull your fingernails out of my shoulders now."

I flexed my lifeless fingers, then cautiously slid my arms up around his neck while trying to peer over his shoulder. He obligingly shifted me higher in his arms. I was looking at a moonlit panorama of Tokyo. We were flying over it, from skyscraper to skyscraper, but the landings and takeoffs weren't as jarring. In fact, it was kind of soothing so long as I didn't think about it. He finally skidded to a stop. I was too scared of what might come next to unlock my arms from around his neck.

Chuckling, he eased my feet down to make contact with what turned out to be the tiled roof of a building…a temple? We were balanced in the dip of the upturned eaves, on the shadowed side of the roof. He braced my back with one hand, and gently disentangled my arms with the other. I pressed my hands against his chest, and slowly met his amber eyes, which were sparkling with humour at the probably Oscar-winning look of astonishment on my face.

My mouth was dry. I tried to swallow before speaking, but I still sounded breathless. "I-I guess… you really… are… _him_…" He merely smirked, and watched as my entranced hand slowly reach for one of his ears.

Leaning his head down, he said, "Go ahead and touch 'em… girls just seem to have a thing for 'em." Just as I was about to make contact, he flicked it away, making me jump. "Just kidding…go ahead." I touched the soft white fur…and the ear was warm. I snatched my hand back, feeling really, really faint. His other arm came around me, and he pressed me against his chest. I could hear his heart beat through the sounds of the blood rushing in my ears. "Don't you dare pass out on me…Sesshomaru'll have my ass on a platter."

My legs were shaking violently. "Could w-we p-please sit down? I-It might help…" Shrugging, he collapsed himself and pulled me down too, holding me in his lap. Too many weird things had happened in the last hour for me to care that I was sitting in the intimate embrace of a living, breathing half-demon. I leaned into him, trying to get control of my hyperventilating lungs. I was so busy doing the 'in through the mouth, out through the nose' thing that I totally missed the grand entrance.

I was kind of glad I did. Inuyasha told me later that Sesshomaru was still licking the blood off his claws when he arrived on the temple eaves. That was a visual I really didn't need at that moment.

I realized we had company when a gentle hand stroked my cheek…and both of Inuyasha's were currently accounted for elsewhere on my anatomy. I peered through my lashes, and saw a very long, very sharp-looking claw right in front of my eye. I flinched, and pulled away, turning my face into Inuyasha's shoulder. The claws dropped from my cheek, and began stroking through my hair. Two voices began having a conversation as if I wasn't there, although the hand didn't stop soothing me as they talked.

"Two or three escaped us…did you see any signs of pursuit?"

"Nope. I changed direction more times than usual before coming here, just to make sure."

"Her shoes aren't even damp…excellent catch, little brother."

"Keh… She isn't exactly a lightweight, y'know…are you _sure_ this is your Rin? She's nearly as tall as me, and doesn't look anything like her!" The hand in my hair stilled for the briefest moment.

"Eye and hair colour are irrelevant. You never saw Rin as an adult, brother. Your last trip through the well was when she was still a child."

"Yeah, but I seriously doubt Rin was ever _this_ tall. Does she _smell_ right? You and Shippo the only ones who can tell…"

"I do not need the kitsune's opinion to _know_ this is Rin. As I told you, I couldn't clearly catch her scent the first night because of the strong smell of the borrowed clothing she was wearing. It wasn't until after she left, when I discovered the faintest trace of her scent on my fingertips, that I knew I had found my lady…" He was interrupted by a snort, which I both heard and felt, from Inuyasha.

"Keh! Who are you and what have you done with my bastard brother…I just can't get over you becoming this sentimental fluffball..." My almost-human sling chair lurched.

"Blame it on your mate and pups, brother. It is immaterial now, because she is here, and must be protected. I am afraid the leader is among those that fled, and will report as such to his mistress."

I sat bolt upright and into the conversation. Sesshomaru's hand, tangled in my curls, came to rest lightly on my shoulder. Two pairs of golden eyes fastened onto me. "Moto got away? He _killed_ Josh…_who_ is his mistress, and why does she want _me_?" I think I was sounding a little shrill by the last word, because both winced slightly.

"Your brave companion will be avenged…unfortunately we were just slightly too late to prevent his demise. You know...Moto?"

"He works in my office…"

The two exchanged significant looks. Inuyasha sighed. "Keh! That explains a lot…"

The claws on my shoulder tightened slightly. "Moto is an evil youkai. His mistress is an old foe of ours. She hoped to seize you to use as a hostage in her plans."

I shuddered violently, as the memory of the look in Moto's transformed eye came roaring back. I was abruptly transferred from one lap to another; now my cheek was cushioned by fur…good thing, too, because those spiky bits were _sharp _up close. A clawed hand gently tucked my hair over my shoulder, and then ran a thumb along my cheek. I looked up to see those molten eyes…and then couldn't look away again. His expression had a great deal of tenderness…and longing? I blinked, hard, and took a close interest in the fascinating pattern on his kimono, my finger coming up to trace a flower above his breastplate. My hand was trapped, and he brought my fingertips up to his lips; he kissed all of them lightly, and then the palm of my hand. Tucking my hand against his breastplate, and patting it, he then stood up, lifting me in his arms as easily as if I were a small child.

I found my voice. "Ummm…didn't you…lose an arm…in the story, I mean?"

He gave me a small smile. "Yes, I did. Full youkai can regenerate almost any body part, if given long enough."

My head spun with a few lines of questioning that would have been highly embarrassing, so I ignored them. "Oh…okay. Ummm…where do we go from here?"

"We will escort you to your apartment to collect a few essential items, and then you are coming home with me."

I was dumbfounded. "Home…home with you? Bu…but I don't _know_ you!" An image of a St. Bernard dog dragging a half-dead traveller up to the door of a monastery popped into my head…Inuyasha was sniggering rudely up on the ridgepole.

"If you _are_ Rin, you've already known him a whole lot better, girl…." I think my eyes must have blown a few muscles as they popped wide open. Sesshomaru shot a blazing glance in his brother's direction, and then made soothing noises in his throat that sounded suspiciously like a purr.

He _was _purring. Mental image shifted to cat dragging in a half-dead mouse…

"That is true, until your memories are awakened…however, now that the wind witch knows that I am aware of your presence, it is not safe for you to be anywhere that I am not. Therefore, my residence is at your disposal. Let us go."

I was held tighter against his armoured chest, and then we were surrounded by a shining light that blurred our surroundings. My head was spinning enough that I didn't mind the break in our conversation. I tried to think rationally.

Rational apparently included wondering if his hair was as silky to touch as it looked, and if he was striped anywhere else besides his wrists. I slapped myself mentally again…twice in as many nights, and over the same guy. This was becoming a habit, and _he_ wasn't exactly Orlando Bloom…this guy kills things for kicks…not exactly the type of smooching material I usually had fantasies about. If I were going to think positively, I guess this was sort of an improvement, because unlike a fantasy, Sesshomaru was definitely a solid reality. Without thinking, I rapped on his breastplate. Yep, pretty solid. He looked down at me questioningly; catching his look, I felt really stupid, and then hid my very pink face in his furry tippet. I felt his arms tighten, and then he started that purring vibration again.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Point of No Return**

Summary of current situation. Being carried through night air of Tokyo cradled in arms of very powerful dog demon. Dog demon in question can regenerate body parts. Dog demon is certain that I am his 'little' girl. (Whoa. Better damp down the inappropriate thoughts regarding those stripey bits…) Dog demon and his half-brother are protecting me from another demon, who hangs out with nasty bird demons. Dog demon is bent on taking me back to his…kennel.

My overtaxed emotions finally sprang a gasket; I started giggling at images of chew toys and bowls of kibble, and Sesshomaru rolling around on his back with his 'paws' in the air. I wondered if he liked tummy rubs…

I peered up at my rescuer. He was smiling slightly at my laughter, and shaking his head, then looked down at me, catching me peeking. I blushed again, and hid my face like a little kid. I felt a soft kiss on the top of my head, and a gentle rumble echoed against my ear. "Try to rest, Rin, and think about what you need from your apartment…"

I wriggled a bit. "How do you know where I live?"

"Since our brief encounter last week, I've learned a surprising amount of things about you, Ree-an-na Tanaka…" He stumbled only slightly over my first name.

"Don't forget the _Johnson_," I muttered peevishly. "My poor dad, always ignored…"

"Your father…Row-brrt?"

I grinned. "Not bad…Raw-brrt, actually. My mom is Reiko, and my younger brother is Kai…" Another thought occurred to me virtually simultaneously. "Oh, man…how am I going to tell them about this? They'll want me to come home right away…"

"You should not tell them anything…not until this is over. They will worry needlessly otherwise. You are perfectly safe with me."

"Ummm…is your ken…I mean, apartment, close to my office? It would be nice not to be so far away from work…"

"You will not be returning to work, Rin. I cannot risk losing you again… I once entrusted your life to someone else, and they failed to protect you. I will not make that mistake again, except perhaps where my brother is concerned. He would also die for your sake…"

"Better check with Kagome on that, Sesshomaru…she might have an objection or two…" Inuyasha's head rose and fell away. I realized he must have been bounding alongside us the whole time, and listening in.

"I believe her answer would be entirely dependent upon the level of annoyance you had been causing her at the time, brother…I think she sometimes misses the power of the rosary…"

"Keh! I _know _she does…lucky for me she had a weak moment…"

With a soft _whoosh_, we arrived on the top of a building…my building, I brilliantly deduced. Inuyasha alighted a scant second after us, and immediately began prowling the roof edge. Sesshomaru set me on my feet, but didn't let me go. He curved one arm around my shoulders, twirling a stray curl in his long fingers. It was almost as if he was afraid that if he broke contact, I would disappear… We watched his brother do a thorough check.

"What is he looking for?" I whispered.

"Signs that those damn birds have been up to their usual shit…it looks clear, Sesshomaru." His hearing _was _good. I'd have to remember that…

Sesshomaru walked me briskly to the door leading off the roof. I was about to say that I didn't have a key, when he nonchalantly tore the door right off its hinges, with no more effort than pulling a daisy. He set it carefully to the side, and then ushered me in. I'm sure my overworked eyeballs popped again, but that was all I had time to do before I was negotiating the stairs.

Sesshomaru had other ideas. Halfway down the first flight, he scooped me up again, and we dropped down the centre of the stairwell in a nerve-wracking free-fall. I heard Inuyasha whoop, and looked up to see him launching from side to side off the banisters, nearly keeping pace with us in our downward flight. His cursing was spectacular when Sesshomaru abruptly yanked both of us onto a landing, and he hurtled past us, held tightly in gravity's grip. I was peering over the railing at the angry half-demon as he came to a stop about fifteen floors below, when Sesshomaru murmured in my ear, "Have to keep the pup on his toes…"

I couldn't help grinning back at him. "Not bad, not bad at all…I would take notes, but _my_ brother isn't as indestructible." He nodded gravely, a smile quirking the corners of his lips.

"I would wield Tenseiga for you, if he ever found himself in the same situation."

I was still goggling over that remark when he took the door in hand. I quickly stopped him, and carefully cracked it open myself. One destroyed entryway a night was enough for my conscience. Inuyasha arrived on the landing and pushed me aside, glaring witheringly at his brother's bemused smirk, then crouched at the opening, ears flickering, eyes intent.

"It's clear…let's move." They bustled me along the empty hallway (well, it was some time in the wee hours), until we reached my door. I produced the key from my thankfully zippered inner pocket, and turned the lock. Inuyasha brushed me aside, again, and slid his sword out of the scabbard.

His sword. The Tetsu-_something_…I was really going to see it in action? I jumped backward, when a crackle and a searing light announced its transformation…hoo, boy, Hiromi would give her right arm to see this…the thing was _huge_. Considerably longer than even Sesshomaru was tall, and twined with white vapours, he easily hefted it in one hand while cautiously pushing my door open, like he expected something to leap out at him. Nothing moved, so he nudged the door the rest of the way open, and leading with the sword, stepped inside.

Sesshomaru gripped my shoulders from behind when I made to follow.

"Let him make sure that it is safe, Rin…the ravens are notable for both their intelligence and deviousness." I thought I saw his nostrils flare before he winced at something.

Inuyasha backed out hurridly, keeping the sword pointed into the room and quickly closing the door. "Don't go in there, Rin…the bastards were here before us, and they've done a thorough job."

"W-what do you mean?" I asked, in a very small voice.

"They busted a window to get in…it's been trashed."

"Aside from my clothes, there wasn't much to destroy…"

"They've pissed and shit everywhere, and torn up everything that wasn't nailed down…hope those dishes weren't yours." Numbly, I shook my head. The brothers looked evenly at each other, and then Inuyasha grinned jauntily, sheathing his katana. "You realize, of course, that this means war…"

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Haven**

One fast trip via glowing ball of light later, and we were standing outside the roof access door on top of Sesshomaru's apartment block. He opened this door by pressing something on the frame…no superhuman heroics to impress the ladies this time. Inuyasha started heading for the roof edge; guess he was going to fly away home. I hesitated a moment, wavering, then quickly stepped close and hugged him. His body stiffened, then he relaxed and gave me a bear-sized hug back. I started to sniffle.

"Thanks…for everything…"

"Hey, Rin…it's okay…we'll make sure it's okay…between Sesshomaru and me and Kagome, we'll take care of you, all right?…wench, no tears!" He was patting my back, but at the first sign of serious tear-duct activity, he gripped my chin, and made me look at him. "You can't get any safer than where you are right now…well, except maybe at my place, but the kids will keep you up, and you're exhausted." He handed me back to his brother, and then grinned. "Kagome will be dying to talk to you, so have a good sleep before we see you tomorrow, okay? G'night…be a _good _dog, brother…"

I couldn't quite catch the expression on Sesshomaru's face in response to that last comment, but the hand on my shoulder clenched a bit as he ushered me through the door, closing it carefully behind us. A choice of stairs or elevator greeted us; not knowing exactly what to expect, I waited for the tall guy to decide. He pushed the button on the elevator.

Of course I was nervous. Wouldn't you be? Enclosed in a small space with a guy with razor blades for finger nails…sounded like a bad moment in a worse movie…

Once the door slid open, I scooted in and wedged myself in the far corner. He reached past me and poked a button for roughly the halfway point of the building. He said nothing, just stood an arm's length away. I tried not to fidget; I noticed that if I did, my body seemed to float closer to him, like he was magnetic or something. This was more than a little disconcerting; it was like my body knew something I didn't. I sure wish it would pass on the information. I hadn't been formally introduced, didn't officially know his name, or even if he _had_ a phone number, and here I was traipsing along home with him. My mother would _kill_ me if she found out.

The elevator _dinged_ softly, and opened onto a non-descript hallway. Sesshomaru stepped out, and waited to make sure I was tagging along. I did notice that the hallway was overly wide, like it was meant to be easily manoeuvrable for people in wheelchairs, but the ceiling was fairly high, too. Actually, come to think of it, the elevator was more like a freight-sized one as well. I nearly bumped into him when he stopped in front of a wide door about halfway down the hall, and placed his hand for a moment on the doorframe. I heard the bolts snick, and he opened the door, indicating that I should precede him. Gentlemanly…or predatory? I momentarily shelved my misgivings when I walked in.

It was big. My whole apartment could fit in the foyer.

Kicking off my shoes, I cautiously edged forward, taking in the expansive living room, traditionally outfitted dining area and an impressive open kitchen; beyond were floor-to-ceiling windows framing a spectacular view of pre-dawn Tokyo. Recessed lighting gave everything a soft glow; my dropped jaw was able to tell me there were thick carpets on the floor, not tatami mats. Sesshomaru came up behind me.

"Would you like something to drink before you retire?"

Cold beer, please? I wished, but decided to play it safe. Come on; what would you do? Here I was, in the tastefully-appointed apartment of an honest-to-goodness demon lord, very alone and very vulnerable; would you have gotten tanked, even if that's really what you wanted to do after seeing someone get killed?

Didn't think so. Neither did I. Though I really, really wanted to...

"A tall glass of cold water would be terrific, actually." He moved into the kitchen, while I followed along and took the opportunity to swoon over the view. A glass was pressed into my hand. "Thank you…um, er…what should I call you?"

His face became pensive; a far-away look came into his darkened eyes. "When you were a child, you called me 'Lord'… After we were mated, you had a number of nicknames for me, but I respond well to just 'Sesshomaru'."

I smiled at him, and raised my glass to him. "Very well, 'Just Sesshomaru' it is…" He growled softly, but there was no threat behind it. We stood together at the window, contentedly admiring the view, until a massive yawn took me completely by surprise. Before I had finished rehinging my jaw, Sesshomaru deftly relived me of my glass, and steered me towards an open door off the living room.

It was a bedroom, complete with the largest bed I'd ever seen. Well, outside of one of those interior-decorating magazines that did a spread of the Bedrooms of Stars of the NBA. _And _it was a real American-style bed, _not_ a futon. _Yessss_!

I would have flung myself into the middle of it right there and then, and rolled around in sheer delight, but the presence of its owner stopped me from being quite that, um, _uninhibited_. "The ensuite is behind that door, and you will find something to wear in that cupboard over there." He pointed in both directions. I suddenly felt quite shy; my socks were extremely fascinating. The toes of his boots (hey, how come _he_ didn't take them off?) came into my peripheral vision. A clawed hand cupped my chin; I started trembling. He tilted my face up, and moved in… for a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Rin. Sleep well. Call me if you need anything." He shut the door behind him. I exhaled. And _then_ tossed myself onto the bed and rolled around, just because I could.

The cupboard he indicated was full of yukata, neatly sorted into 'winter' and 'summer' sections. I pulled out a cream number printed with russet bamboo stalks, and quickly undressed in the ensuite, shaking my head over how much had happened in four hours or less. Folding up my clothes more or less neatly, I left them in a pile next to the door. I was startled at the face greeting me in the mirror. I looked _awful_, despite the very flattering lighting. 'Haggard' did not quite begin to cover it. I washed my face and sloshed some water around my teeth. I wasn't going to dig around for toothpaste…maybe dog demons withfangs didn't need dentists?... then gratefully climbed into the huge bed, and snuggled down into a fluffy pillow. Another small luxury. No traditional wooden block either…

My serenity didn't last long. I was being _chased_. Again.

Breathing hard, my heart pounding in my ears, I peered into the darkness, trying to pick out the shapes of my pursuers. A noise close overhead startled me; deer-like, I bounded away. I could hear the rush of air through wings, many wings, and then the air was filled with harsh cawing, and clawed feet raked my head, ripping at my hair and back. Screaming, I threw up my arms to protect myself, and kept running, dodging, screaming. The birds flew away; I collapsed at the base of a tree, gasping raggedly. I snapped my head up at the sound of the panting of many mouths. Hair-raising growls sent me racing helter-skelter through the bush. I was stumbling, falling and I could hear the pack howling their hunting cry. Sharp teeth were in my throat…my flesh was being torn away…my whole body was shaken by the onslaught…a slash of silver sliced through my pain.

I _was_ being shaken, but by a dog, not a wolf.

Sesshomaru's face swam into focus, his facial markings startlingly sharp-edged and clear. "Rin! _Rin_! _Aisai_…wake up…please wake up!" His normally cool tones were urgent, anxious. Dizzily, I reached out and grasped his clothing with both hands. He pulled me up to sitting; I collapsed against his chest. Strong arms wrapped tightly around me; a hand worked its way through my hair and started making soothing patterns on my scalp. I sighed deeply, and wrapped one arm around his waist and slid the other hand upwards until my fingertips just contacted the skin at the base of his throat. His pulse was pounding just as hard as mine. I rested my head in the angle of his neck and shoulder, grounding me in his reality, and tried to find my breath while watching my fingers meddle with his neckline.

"What was it, Rin…what did you see?" His voice was so soft and gentle, more rumble than words; his hand never ceased its tender caress of the back of my head.

"Wolves…" My own voice floated, seemingly disembodied. The word hung fire in the air, before it dissolved away. "Ravens too…but the wolves killed me…" A shudder went through his body; he pressed me closer to him, dropping his chin to my shoulder. Several strands of shining silver looped over his shoulder and brushed against my fingertips; I twined them around my fingers, and admired their sleek beauty, so different from my own rough curls.

For long minutes, Sesshomaru gave me the security of his embrace, and I accepted it without thought. Finally, he laid me back down and curled himself around me, stroking my hair and face. I drifted off again, the strands of his hair wound around my fingers.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Contented**

I sat straight up, blinking wildly. I was alone, in a large rumpled bed, but wearing a yukata with the strings still knotted firmly. What the…?

Slumping back down, I remembered. Everything burst in and ran around my brain gibbering. David and Sayaka… Josh…leaping over tall buildings in a single bound…discovering that demons are alive and well and swinging swords in the 21st century…having a horrible dream and being soothed by… a silver-haired, whisker-striped dog demon.

Yep. Nothing out of the ordinary…

I dragged my butt out of the lovely, comfortable bed, and staggered into the ensuite. A brand new_ pink_ toothbrush lay on the counter, next to a pristine tube of toothpaste, a stick of deodorant, bottles of shampoo and an expensive natural-bristle hairbrush plus assorted clips and elastics. I hesitated, wondering, but then figured that Sesshomaru probably didn't have a toothbrush quite that colour for his own personal use. It felt incredibly good to clean the fuzz off my teeth. I looked longingly at the huge shower and massive tub; I should probably say good morning to my host before I disappeared in there for half an hour. The hairbrush made short work of my spectacular bed-head; I can count on one hand the times I've woken up with that sexy tousled look. And no, it wasn't because I'd had anything exciting happen to me…

I dug a blue yukata out of the cupboard and pulled it on over top of the pale one, since I'd noticed in the lights of the bathroom that it was somewhat see-through. Organizing myself into respectability, I opened the door and stepped into the living room…and stopped short. Sesshomaru was sitting on one of the couches, dressed in a green yukata, peacefully reading a weekend copy of the 'Japan Times', a teacup in his hand. He looked perfectly normal…well, as normal as a demon lord _could_ look, I suppose. He seemed thinner, somehow…right, no armour or furry shoulder throw.

He looked up as I hesitated by the doorway. "Good afternoon, Rin…I trust you slept well?"

I blinked, owlishly, and came farther into the room, perching on an arm of the couch nearest to me. "G-good afternoon?"

He was gently amused. "Yes. It is now about three o'clock Sunday afternoon."

I swung my dazed glance to the windows. Sure enough, it was late afternoon; the sun's rays were slanting in on a near flattened trajectory. I had slept for nearly twelve hours. I couldn't remember having slept so soundly or deeply, _ever._

Well, I _did_ have a rather unusual evening the night before.

"I suggest you have a shower before we leave; Kagome left some supplies for you." _Kagome_…ah, only another girl would pick up on the need for toiletries.

"Kagome was here? Nobody woke me up?"

"I do not believe even an earthquake would have roused you; Kagome and Inuyasha came this morning to guard you while I conducted a meeting. They are expecting us for dinner this evening, and it is nearly an hour drive to the shrine from here...Inuyasha can accomplish it in forty minutes, but I prefer a less life-threatening pace."

I grinned, bounced off the couch, and headed into the kitchen. Sesshomaru watched as I rooted around in the crisper of the refrigerator, coming up with an apple. He brought his teacup with him as he leaned against the counter, watching me as I looked for a paring knife in the drawers. There were none to hand. While I was poking around and starting to mutter, he reached for the apple, and deftly sliced it into pieces with his claws. He had even flicked out the core. I stared at the neatly sectioned fruit, then turned my head to stare at him. He reached over and tipped my jaw closed, then leaned back, head cocked, one fine eyebrow arched.

I shook my head to clear it. "Thank you, Sesshomaru…ummm, no offense, but I know what you used those claws for last night…next time, I'll just use a knife, okay?"

He didn't seem upset, merely nodding thoughtfully. "As you wish, Rin." He returned to his spot on the couch, taking up a section of the paper. I found a plate for my apple, and went to sit. Rubbing one foot against the other, I hesitated for a moment, then walked over to boldly sit beside him. He looked at me; I smiled brightly back.

"Well, you have the paper…"

He snorted, but passed over the front page. We sat peacefully while I munched the fruit and we both read the news of the day. Or rather, I tried to. Finally, I had to ask him what some characters meant, and he ended up translating much of it for me, since many of the nuances escaped my less-than-stellar grasp of the written language. I shared the apple; we ended up cuddled against each other; his silver strands actually intertwined with mine where our shoulders touched, our heads bowed together over the text. I was surprised when he unfolded himself from the couch and stood up, holding out his hand to me.

"Our time is short, Rin…if you wish to bathe, I suggest you do it now."

I jumped, and took his hand to stand up. "Oh…I forgot…I was enjoying myself very much. Thank you for your patience, Sesshomaru. I'm afraid my reading ability is a scandal…"

His eyes became that misted, dark honey colour again. "I taught you to read myself, because Jaken did not have the patience…you now seem far less prone to skipping off after butterflies."

My breath caught in my throat, as he pulled me close to him, so close that I was sure he could feel my heart pounding against his rib cage. The slightest dip of his head would have brought our lips together. I gulped.

"Y-you really think that I'm _her_…?"

Those eyes held me trapped. "I _know_ you are…my Rin." I felt dizzy again; and needing to ground myself, reached up to lightly touch the stripes on his cheeks. They were very, very slightly indented, and the red was of a finer texture than the rest of his skin. His eyes half-closed, and he leaned into my palm, that rumble starting low in his throat. When I carefully withdrew my hand from his face, his eyes snapped fully open and I was looking into molten pools. Suddenly, he shook himself, and stepped back, releasing my hand. "Your nightmare was one of your previous memories returning. You may wish to ask Kagome about being a reincarnation…she has some experience in it. Now, off you go, or you'll have to wear that outfit, which probably fits me a little more flatteringly."

Slightly flustered, and definitely weak-kneed, I tottered off to the bathroom. While using up an impressive amount of the building's hot water supply, I tried to sort out the conflicting emotions whizzing around my system. I mean, I had really only met him about fourteen hours ago (twelve or so of which involved me gently drooling on a pillow)…I'm not the sort for hook-ups, unlike some of my acquaintances back home…and yet…what was _with_ my body's reaction to him?

He could make me hot, bothered and giddy just with his touch. No matter how embarrassing, I had to face it. Part of me wanted to do it with a dog demon. (Please insert favourite species-specific sexual position joke _here_, and move on, people.) The other, smaller, part was running away screaming.

What would my _mother_ say? What was _I_ thinking?

I wound my hair up in a towel, and commenced looking for clothes and a hairdryer. My dirty ones from last night had disappeared; Sesshomaru also did not apparently own any sort of hair appliance. Great. He obviously didn't have a lot of overnight guests needing that sort of thing. Wrapping a towel around myself, I decided to ask the demon of the house where my clothes might have disappeared to, and may I have them back, please? And no, I'm not dropping this towel, even if you sit up and beg _nicely_.

When I stepped out into the bedroom, I found my question already answered, and my towel in no danger of meeting the carpet. Laid out on the bed were two choices of complete outfits, including underwear and shoes. I paused, then took a closer look.

Wow. Someone with taste and deeper pockets than mine had picked these out. One was a long swishy dark skirt with a peach-coloured tank and matching sweater combo. The other was a classy brick-red dress with a restrained black floral pattern. Quite a change from the black jeans, t-shirt and jean jacket I'd arrived in last night. As soon as I touched the sweater set, I had to put it on…it was _so_ soft, so on went the dark skirt and the low heels.

Damn. Everything fit, even the underwear. I was a little uneasy about how my dimensions may have been measured, particularly my bra size… I was basically out cold after my nightmare…but, I was properly dressed when I woke up. Maybe they looked at the labels in my own clothes? Inuyasha had said I was taller than the original Rin, so these couldn't be hers…I picked up the towels I dropped on the floor, and hung them up in the bathroom like a polite guest, brushed my teeth and ran my hands through my still-damp hair. I eyed my reflection. Better than last night…my lip gloss was on the counter; whoever removed my clothes obviously checked the pockets first. I put on a swipe, smiled bravely at myself, and headed for the door.

I stopped with my hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath, and swept out into the living room. Sesshomaru was standing by the windows.

Damn again. Did he have to look so ridiculously _hot_? I felt like banging my head against the wall behind me, as parts of me went all quivery at the sight of him. He was wearing dark Western-style pants and a shirt. That, coupled with the silver hair, made him a real head-turner. I know what the look on my face was (hopefully the drool wasn't dripping off my chin); he stopped dead in mid-turn when he saw me, and then came towards me with rapid steps, taking my hands in his. I flushed even brighter under his intense scrutiny. He was _pleased_, that was extremely obvious, and I felt all fluttery. What was happening to me? Well, duh, I know _what_…maybe the better question was _why_?

"You look lovely, my lady. Do the clothes please you?"

"Y-yes…thank you, Sesshomaru…"

"That colour suits you particularly well, although you do not need to try to match it with your cheeks…" Well, that comment really helped me to control things…


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: All I possibly own is the storyline…Takahashi-sama owns the characters!

**A/N**: Miroku & Sango will not be appearing in this fic; they are, ahem, dust & ashes by now…

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**Exchanged: Part Three**

**Connections**

It felt kind of weird to be riding in a car with Sesshomaru. Not because of the _way_ he handled it, but because it _was_ a car. A very, very sexy two-seater, to be sure, but definitely not on the same scale as a two-headed dragon, or a ball of light.

After about fifteen minutes of Sunday-in-Tokyo traffic and watching him tap a long slim claw on his knee as we were cut off yet again, I ventured to ask why he subjected himself to this, when he had another method of transport that was far faster and more efficient time-wise.

"I do not need to have the air force called out when I simply wish to visit my brother and his family across town, Rin."

"Wow…they pick you up on radar?"

"No, but I find this method is less attention-getting during daylight hours."

I smiled coyly. "Really? A fancy imported black sports car with a gorgeous silver-haired guy driving it…nope, definitely not attention-getting at all. Hey… how come you didn't hide your appearance in your apartment building?" We'd gone down to the parkade with full-on markings…

"That building is actually our clan's Tokyo base…all the inhabitants are either inu-youkai or our allies, so there is no need to 'hide' ourselves."

_That_ stunned me for a moment. A whole building of demons? And it wasn't a small building, either…Just how many of them were around, anyways?

"Ummm…I thought you were the Lord of the _Western _Lands…wouldn't that be on the coast?"

"My family's ancestral fortress is indeed located on the Sea of Japan, not far from Niigata. A presence in Tokyo is necessary for security."

Security? For what? Then I remembered the raven-youkai and changed my next question at the last second. "Is that … two-headed dragon still around?"

"I assume you mean Ah-Un?" I nodded. "He stays at the fortress…he is getting on in years. He would be most pleased to see you." _Along with the unicorns, no doubt_…

I held my tongue for a bit, digesting all of this, then ventured another query, since he seemed to be in a chatty mood. "Uh…how _do_ you hide your facial markings, anyways?"

He shot a cool look my way, and since we were sitting in traffic behind tinted windows, he showed me. A simple spoken word, and his hair was black, his face was smooth and unmarked, and his claws and stripes were gone. I took his hand into my lap and turned it over, examining it, running my fingers over the clawless tips. I finally looked at him. "Thanks for showing me, Sesshomaru…but I must say, I prefer your _natural_ appearance." I blinked, and he was back in all his stripey glory. I reached over and tucked a few stray silvery strands behind his re-pointed ear. "Much better…" I almost missed the slight shiver that passed over him when my fingertips brushed his ear. I know my whole _hand_ was tingling.

I held onto his hand with both of mine, 'forgetting' to give it back; he let me keep it, and seemed mildly amused with the fact that I was playing with it like a kitten investigating a new toy. Traffic was so slow that he was keeping the car in low gear, anyways. I was trying not to think about why I wanted to touch him at all, because quite frankly, the direction my thoughts were going in was scaring the hell out of me.

I _knew_ him. The rumble of his purr, the feel of his skin, the colour changes of his eyes depending on his mood…I knew all of this. I also knew that there was no way in hell that I _could_ possibly know all of this…unless I really was a reincarnation of that pony-tailed little girl in the anime, who actually existed as a real person. He didn't seem like the child-molester type, so that left the truth of what he called me last night giving itself some elbow room in my brain…

His _aisai;_ his 'beloved wife'. Somehow, I was able to twist my head around the idea that just possibly, I was the mate of a creature out of myth…or nightmare. I looked at my reflection in the car's side mirror. Dimly reflected back I saw my own face; blue eyes, golden skin, curly hair, but I didn't feel like myself any more. It was like there was someone else in my skin…someone else who was totally comfortable with all of this.

I stole a look at Sesshomaru, who seemed completely absorbed in the traffic, but I knew the way I was stroking his hand had a good part of his attention. "Sesshomaru, did Inuyasha mention…children?"

"Yes. He and Kagome have two pups; a boy, Inutai, known as Tai, and a younger girl, named Tsuki."

"How old are they?"

"Tai is six years, and Tsuki is almost four."

"What are they like?"

He chuckled. "Tai is exactly like his father at the same age…full of bounce and mischief. He gets into everything, and then tries to bluff his way out of the mess he's made. Tsuki, on the other hand, is a darling… but watch out for her temper. She can pitch a fit that her grandfather would have been proud of."

"Er…at what point did you and Inuyasha…start not liking each other?"

"He had the appearance of a ten year old human when we parted ways." That word 'appearance' stuck in my brain; Sesshomaru obviously picked up on the clogged gears, and took pity on me. "Demons age much slower than humans; Inuyasha was a few decades old by that time, and a strong fighter. It was much later that he met the priestess, and was pinned to the tree."

Several questions were racing around madly in my brain, questions based on my peeks at Hiromi's manga. I took a deep breath, and grabbed one. "Naraku really did exist?"

"Yes. The completion of the Jewel, and his destruction allowed Inuyasha and Kagome to return to this time through the well and begin their lives together without fear. That was about eight years ago."

"Wait, how did you…did you have to wait until time caught up with itself again?" He nodded. "So you didn't come through the well with them…" My voice trailed off as I did a quick calculation to come up with a best-guess at Sesshomaru's age.

Holy crap. Talk about an _older man_. He was smirking at the expression on my face. I popped my jaw back into place.

"How did Inuyasha take it, when he ran into you again in this time?"

He looked out the window; his mouth twitched. "Not well, as may be expected… we managed to sort out our differences, however, and now we are each other's main ally."

Ally against _what_? Right, the 'wind witch'…

"I-I guess…the first Rin…already knew all this…I'm sorry if you feel like you're repeating yourself…"

"She knew the politics of our kind, but she did not know that I had reconciled with my brother. She was…already gone."

I hesitated, my mouth dry, before I carefully asked my next question. "Ummm…Sesshomaru? Did you and… the other Rin… have any children?"

The hand I held twitched, and then he laced his fingers with mine. "No. It was not our destiny." His voice held old pain; I lightly stroked the stripes around his wrist with my thumb.

"I'm sorry." The words sounded so inadequate; he squeezed my hand gently. There was silence for a few minutes, while I gathered my courage for another question.

"Sesshomaru…how did…you lose…your other Rin?" I saw his throat working; he pulled his hand away from mine and ran it briefly over his face. It took him a long time to answer me.

"We will speak of that another time…when it is right." There was such finality and darkness in his voice that I shivered, and watched traffic for the rest of the trip. Fortunately, it wasn't too long before we were pulling through the gates of an old-fashioned shrine, and parking next to a very nice SUV in front of a modern home. I hopped out, looking around me with curiosity. An older house stood across the way, and the shrine itself backed against a slight incline. Flowers were everywhere, in pots, in planters and growing wild anywhere there was a patch of damp earth.

Sesshomaru came around the back of the car and waited for me to stop gawking. He held out his hand to me; I smiled braver than I was feeling, and walked over to take it. He stepped close in and murmured in my ear, "Forgive me for not answering you right away; I promise I will tell you, soon…but for now let us enjoy this evening…" It was a gently proffered peace offering; I smiled into his eyes.

"I understand…I will wait, Sesshomaru." He opened his mouth, as if to say something more, but then raised my hand to his lips instead. We turned towards the house, and walked up the flower-bordered cement pathway to the door.

The door slammed open, and a squealing streak of lightening bolted out, attaching itself to Sesshomaru's leg. It was a small boy; from the look on my escort's face, I was strongly and hilariously reminded of a cartoon featuring a very large white rooster being assailed by a very small chicken hawk…except this chicken hawk was growling happily.

"Hiya, Unca Sess! Wanna sword fight?"

"Not right now, Tai…I have brought a guest I'd like you to meet…" Tai dislodged himself from Sesshomaru's leg and stood in front of me, wide stance, arms akimbo. His formerly white, now very dirty, t-shirt looked like he'd been climbing trees in it; half of it was untucked from his red pants. I crouched down to eye-level with him. Tai's hair was long, pewter-coloured and full of leaves and twigs; he had human ears with the slightest suggestion of a pointed tip, and dark golden eyes above very smutty cheeks and nose. He eyed me critically. I grinned at him.

"Hello, Tai. My name's Rin. Would you show _me_ how to sword fight later?"

He disdainfully crinkled his nose. "Nope. You're a _girl_…you can only shoot arrows…hey! I'm supposed to help Daddy an' Unca Sess protect you…wait there…" He turned and raced back into the house, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Daddy! _Daddy_! I need the Sa'Saiga to protect Rin!"

He nearly knocked over a wee person who could only be his little sister. Dressed in dark red, she stood shyly in the doorway, her finger in her mouth, peeping around the frame at me. Standing up, I smiled at her; she ducked her dark head.

If your image of 'Lord Sesshomaru' does not include him being a doting uncle, you're in for a shock. I know _I _was startled, and I was standing right there.

Sesshomaru dropped to one knee, holding out his arms to her. "Come, Tsuki-chan…uncle needs a hug…" he wheedled. She giggled, and ran lightly to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He stood up, hugging her tightly. Her hair had the shimmering quality of a black pearl; her dainty ears were slightly pointed, like her brother's. When she let go of Sesshomaru's neck and looked at me directly, I could see her eyes were liquid silver. She fluttered her eyelashes…what a little minx! It was obvious she was uncle's favourite. "Tsuki, this is Rin…can you say hello?"

" 'lo, Win." She shamelessly cuddled into Sesshomaru's shoulder, looking very pleased with herself.

"Hello, Tsuki. I'm glad to meet you." A tremendous clattering that sounded like nothing less than a whole cupboard of pots and pans on the loose sped towards us.

"Oi, squirt…bring that back, you little terror!" I heard Inuyasha's unmistakeable shout, but it was too late.

"No, Daddy…I needs it for Rin!" Tai came flying out the door, with his father's sword bounding and clashing along the ground behind him. He tripped over it, and would have taken a nasty tumble, except Sesshomaru demonstrated his demonic speed and caught him over his arm. "Put me down, Unca Sess, gotta a job t' do…" The small warrior straightened himself, and stalked over to me, the sword's scabbard taking a beating on the cement pathway. Tai reached up to grab my hand tightly. " C'mon, Rin, Mommy's waitin'." He swung the sword around behind him, taking out a whole swathe of petunias.

Inuyasha appeared in the foyer, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He rolled his eyes, and sighed heavily, then grinned at me. "Welcome to the jungle, Rin…" I laughed, and obediently followed my small-but-fierce escort into the house, shucking my shoes on the way.

Inside, he towed me directly to the kitchen at the back, where dinner preparations were in full swing. Kagome laughed when she saw her son determinedly hauling in me in, and came forward, her beautiful grey eyes sparkling. "Thank you, Tai…I can take it from here." She reached for my hands and squeezed them between her own. "It is so lovely to have you here, Rin…I've never seen Sesshomaru so animated as when he told us he'd found you."

I suddenly felt really shy. This was the girl who had actually experienced all of those wild adventures…and here I was in her kitchen, filled with delicious smells and children's laughter. Things felt like they were tilting dangerously…she obviously caught my look, because she gave my hands another comforting squeeze. "It's pretty overwhelming when you meet one of _them_, isn't it?" she asked quietly, indicating her husband and his brother, talking in the middle of the passage between the kitchen and the living room. Tsuki was still snuggled in Sesshomaru's arms, twirling a lock of his silver hair. Tai was trying to sneak past his dad, probably with designs on trying the Tetsusaiga out on the trees in the back yard, but Inuyasha foiled him, scooping him up and hanging him upside down over his arm, ignoring the resulting loud complaints and thrashing.

I nodded, still unable to speak. She winked, and leaned in to whisper, "Sesshomaru is a lot of bark…he's been alone for so long, and he is so happy to have you with him. If he seems distant at any point, it's probably because he's afraid he's pushing you too hard to remember. You should have seen him this morning when we came over…he could have had any of his people guard you, but he insisted that we come out. He's very protective…"

"Thank you, Kagome-san…oh, and thanks for the supplies you brought this morning for me."

"No problem…please, call me Kagome…we will be sisters, after all."

I gulped. _Sisters!_ She had turned away towards the stove, and an older dark-haired lady who was supervising. "Rin, this is my mother, Asako Higurashi. She's still the best cook in the family, and I'm still learning…" A pair of gentle dark eyes took me in and assessed me at a glance; Mrs. Higurashi stepped forward, smiling, wiping her hands on her apron, and took mine, just like her daughter.

"Pleased to meet you, Rin…welcome to our home. How do you find us?"

"Thank you, Higurashi-san…it is all a little, um, _all at once_, you know?…"

"Good…we'll give you a job to do to settle your nerves…" She handed me a spoon with instructions to keep an eye on a pot of dashi, and to tell her when it boiled, so she could add the vegetables. It was almost like home, when all of my dad's brothers and their families came over for a potluck; that was reinforced when two young men came in the front door, from the direction of the other house. They were both about twenty years old, or so; one was dark and the other had bright auburn hair, held in a long ponytail…and a bushy tail swishing along behind.

I nearly dropped the spoon, when the red-head broke off his conversation with the other boy, started sniffing the air and turned brilliant green eyes on me. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha stopped talking, and watched him closely. The dark haired youth rescued Tai from turning as red as his pants and paused to watch the show.

The red-head walked right up to me. He barely came up to my chest; I definitely had a height advantage. His ears were as pointed as Sesshomaru's; I suddenly realized that this must be 'Shippo'…not so little, but still pretty cute. He sniffed really hard, his eyes never leaving my face, and then he relaxed and grinned a huge, dazzling, fangy grin, shaking his head.

"It sure is you, Rin, but holy smoke, could you get any taller?"

I arched my eyebrows at him. "I dunno…could you get any shorter?" He chortled, and reached for my hand, which he shook heartily.

"It's really good to see you again, Rin…maybe the Big Dog over there will stop being so grouchy now that you're back." On cue, Sesshomaru growled; Tsuki giggled, and patted his chest with a tiny hand.

Mrs. Higurashi shooed Shippo firmly out of the cooking area, and beckoned the dark haired boy, who handed Tai off to Shippo, and came forward. He smiled at me from under his bangs, and offered his hand. I shook it. "I'm Sota, Miss Rin…pleased to meet you."

"Likewise, I'm sure…just Rin is fine." He swiped a few shredded carrots and backed out, eyeing his mother, who was advancing wielding a colander.

"Out, all of you…dinner will be ready in a few minutes…somebody take custody of my grandson and clean him up, please." Shippo and Sota took a grubby little hand apiece; Tai was relieved of his purloined weaponry and he was whisked towards what I presumed was the bathroom, despite his howls of protest. Kagome handed me a pile of bowls and plates, while balancing chopsticks and glassware herself; we proceeded to set the large low table surrounded by cushions. I followed her lead; my family wasn't exactly traditional at home, so I was curious how it was done. I also wasn't sure how I was going to fold myself up in a skirt to sit gracefully; then I looked over at Sesshomaru. Well, if _he_ could do it…minus the skirt, of course.

Platters and tureens and loaded plates started arriving in the middle of the table. I helped ferry them; the cushions filled up. Inuyasha took custody of his briefly clean and squirming son, plunking him down on the cushion next to him. Kagome seated herself beside Inuyasha, and Tsuki let go of her uncle to sit beside her mother. Sota, Shippo and Mrs. Higurashi sat down; the only spot left for me was beside Sesshomaru. I sank down as carefully as possible, and managed it fairly well. I hoped I didn't have to get back up any time too soon, though. Sesshomaru smiled at me, and then a small cup of sake appeared in front of me. "A toast to welcome Rin to our family…" I blushed at the _banzais_, and bravely tossed it down along with everybody else, trying not to shiver.

Other than that, the chopsticks and the kneeling, it was like a raucous extended-family dinner at my house in San Jose, with all the aunts and uncles and cousins gathered around the table. My mom would feel right at home; I caught my breath, imagining her sitting over there in conversation with Mrs. Higurashi…my brother Kai trading gaming tips with Sota and Shippo…my dad, well, my dad can talk to anybody about anything. He'd find _something_ to chat to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru about; he wouldn't bat an eyelash over the hair or the facial markings, because he works with street kids back home. All Sesshomaru needed were a couple of piercings…

I _really_ missed them. I was going to have to phone home, and soon.

The conversation was a bit over my head, so I stayed quiet, listened and ate. Kagome and Inuyasha were fairly well occupied with their children; Tai had to be slowed down, as his appetite was impressive and his manners were cheerfully atrocious. I felt eyes on me; Mrs. Higurashi smiled kindly, and pushed a dish of pickles my way. "Don't worry, Rin, you'll get the hang of things around here soon enough. This family takes a bit of getting used to." I mumbled my thanks, and peeked over at Sesshomaru; he was watching Tai's antics with faint amusement.

The meal eaten, the boys cleared the table and started washing up. Shippo winked at me. "Special treat for the new family member…you get to scrub the pots next time, and Mrs. Higurashi uses every one in the house when she gets going…" The maligned cook cheerfully smacked him with a wet towel; he chuckled. "However, the results are always delicious, so we don't mind a little extra cleaning up to do!"

Tsuki had slipped around the table and onto Sesshomaru's lap again. She was definitely assessing me, wondering how I fit into the scheme of things in her little world. I could have told her that _I _wasn't sure, either. Tai escaped his dad, and bounced over to me. "Rin, wanna come see my fort?"

"Sure, Tai…help me up?"

He gave me a distinct hairy eyeball. "You're lots bigger than me…how'm I gonna get _you_ up?" Conceding his point, I started untangling my legs; fortunately, Sesshomaru applied a bit of leverage in the form of his hand against my back, or I never would have made it.

I straightened my skirt, and smiling, held out my hand to Tsuki. "Would you like to come too, Tsuki?" She very shyly took my hand and we followed Tai out the front door to retrieve our shoes, and then went around the back of the house.

It was kind of like taking a puppy for a walk…you know, when you walk in a more or less straight path, and the dog goes twice the distance while doing laps around you…Tai would have given a Jack Russell a run for its kibbles. _Hyper_ did not quite begin to cover his energy level. He led us in the direction of a massive old tree not far from the shrine. I stopped to crane my neck up at it, and then to admire the solid trunk. It compared favourably to a redwood back home. There was damage to the bark about twelve feet off the ground.

Crap. This was the tree that started the whole thing. Tsuki tugged my hand. "Dis is daddy's twee…mommy unsticked him fwom it…"

"Wait up, Rin…" We turned to see Kagome hurrying to catch up with us. Tai scowled when he saw his mother.

"I wanna climb up to my fort, mommy…"

She shook her finger at him. "Only to the fort, and no higher, mister…your daddy can't spend all his time rescuing you when you get stuck, you know."

Tai sighed heavily, and then took off running again. We three followed at a more sedate pace, Kagome and I swinging a giggling Tsuki between us. The tree with Tai's fort stood at the bottom of the incline beside an ancient building that resembled a miniature version of the shrine. We sat down on the steps; I kept looking over my shoulder at the building. Tsuki skipped off, and came back with handfuls of flowers. I started weaving them into a wreath for the little girl's head, while wondering how to ask Kagome about her life, when she anticipated me.

"Yes, it is the well house…the portal sealed itself after Inuyasha and I came through for the last time."

"Sesshomaru said that was about eight years ago?"

She nodded her dark head. "I still really miss our friends from there…Sango and Miroku and Kaede, but Shippo and Sesshomaru were able to tell us how they lived out their lives, so it doesn't hurt like it used to. Sango and Miroku finally got married, and made their living as demon-slayers…though business was pretty slow, what with Naraku's demise. I know one of their descendents; she's a police officer, of all things."

"When did you meet Sesshomaru on this side?"

"Hmmm…I was pregnant with Tsuki, so almost five years ago? He sent Shippo first, and once we got over that shock, then he came to see us. Inuyasha was…well, just about as _thrilled_ as you may imagine at first, but they've actually become good friends and colleagues…and Uncle Sess adores his Tsuki, doesn't he, my girl?"

Tsuki's silver eyes sparkled as I arranged the flowers on her dark tresses; she danced away, laughing, to pick some more. Tai hallooed from the window of his tree fort; Kagome and I waved. I swallowed, and hesitated, but finally asked, "Kagome, what was it really like…being a reincarnation?"

Her grey eyes were serious. "Sesshomaru told us that you'd had a dream about the wolves…I never had anything like that, Rin, so I can't help you there. Sesshomaru seems pretty certain that you have memories of your previous life locked away." She reached over and took my hand, squeezing it. "You look nothing like the other Rin, which is a definite advantage, trust me. There is a photograph of her somewhere at the apartment, taken in the nineteen-twenties, I think. She was dark and petite and brown eyed, and came up to Sesshomaru's elbow…you're very beautiful in your own right. I was an exact double of Kikyo, and that caused a lot of heartache until Inuyasha sorted things out for himself."

Another pile of flowers landed in my lap, and I started weaving another wreath. A cream-coloured cat appeared out of nowhere. It was beautifully marked with black on its ears, paws and… two tails? It was happily rubbing against my dark skirt, leaving light hair everywhere. Kagome chuckled. "Kirara! You naughty girl…you know that Sesshomaru can't abide cat hair…" The cat demon opened her huge glowing red eyes, and _winked_ at me, then emitted a tiny 'miaow', before jumping up onto my lap in the middle of the flowers and rubbing her cheek against my chin.

I was more than a little surprised. I'm more of a dog person, myself. Kagome slid over beside me and patted my arm before transferring Kirara from my lap to hers; the cat demon curled up, purring. "Trust Sesshomaru, Rin; he will always protect you; when a dog demon loves, it runs deep and true."

My head shot up, nearly colliding with hers. She chuckled at the expression on my face. I shook my head. "How could he be in…_love_…with me already? We've only been together for less than eighteen hours!"

"Trust me, he _is_…don't you feel something tingling when he touches you, or holds your hand?"

"I thought that was just my overwrought nerves…" I muttered.

"No…that is your soul responding to his…I had that experience with Inuyasha right from the first, although I didn't know what it was at the time. It's meant to be, Rin, that's all I can say. You'vebecome amember of a demonic dynasty overnight…I know it's a bit much all at once, but somewhere inside of you, there is a locked door holding back all this knowledge. You lived a very long life with Sesshomaru the first time; the information you need is there, waiting for you."

I think I must have had that nicely stunned look by now. I dazedly handed the new wreath to Tsuki; she plunked it on my head instead. Kagome straightened it, smiling. "You were the Lady of the Western Lands, and presided over the court, Rin…although I doubt you were ever crowned with daisies and clover." She cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "Come down, Tai…time to get ready for bed. If I have to send daddy up to fetch you, no story…"

The small boy dropped out of the tree and shuffled over, grumbling and kicking stones out of his way. I poked him. "Hey, Tai, want to play follow-the-leader?" At his bright-eyed grin, I took off with him in hot pursuit. I have a couple of small cousins…they all like to play chase.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were standing outside the back door of the house when they spotted us. We were being airplanes at that moment, zipping around in circles with our arms spread out to the side, and making zooming noises. Sesshomaru had the most peculiar expression on his face; he stepped forward to catch my hands while Inuyasha intercepted his son before he crashed into the backs of my legs. He looked into my eyes for a long moment, then brushed a few stray curls away before stooping to lightly kiss my cheek.

Kagome was right; my whole body reacted with an electric tingle. I wondered if that's how he felt when I touched his stripes this afternoon. If so…things could be quite interesting to say the least. We were interrupted by a theatrical groan from Shippo. "Geez, you two, quit corrupting the innocent…and in broad daylight, no less."

"Innocent, my ass, Shippo…when are we going to meet this new little vixen of yours, huh? I overheard you bragging to Sota about how _hot _she is…" The kitsune flushed bright red and glared at a smirking Inuyasha, who was tossing Tai up in the air and catching him, the little boy squealing with delight.

"One new girl introduced to this family at a time, dog-breath…I'll see how it goes with Rin before I make up my mind…" Tsuki slipped her little hand into mine. I lifted her to my hip, smiling at her bright face. She reached up and hugged me, then occupied herself by twisting a lock of Sesshomaru's silver hair with a few of my curls. I met his golden eyes over her dark head; he was unreadable for the moment, but he slid his arm around both of us. She was making quite a job out of knotting our hair together; I wondered if we'd have to take scissors to it.

"Oh, isn't that a picture…hold it right there, you three." Mrs. Higurashi aimed a camera and snapped the shutter. Sota peeked over her shoulder at the digital image, and they both grinned. "Lovely…I'll email you a copy, Sesshomaru. Now, you two scallywags…Inuyasha, I dearly wish you would not wind that child up just before bed…off to the bath with you."

Tsuki kissed my cheek, and then gave Sesshomaru a big hug and a kiss, before she would consent to going to her grandmother. Tai, flushed and over-excited, pounced on me. "You gonna come again, Rin? If you don't dress like a girl, you can climb trees with me…"

"Sure, Tai…I'll wear jeans next time…" He hugged me with all the fierceness of a little boy and gave me a grubby kiss, then whacked his uncle in the leg before running into the house at full throttle. Sesshomaru pulled the crown of flowers off my head, dangling it from his fingers for a moment, with a crooked grin on his lips. I started working on the knot joining our hair, and managed to undo it without too much damage. His hair was so sleek, it was actually almost slippery in texture.

"Cup of tea before you go?" Kagome called cheerily.

"I wouldn't last the hour drive if I did…no thank you, but don't let that stop you."

"We should go, Rin, before the hour gets too late…" Or we'll turn into a pumpkin? I wondered giddily. This evening had been so surreally normal, that it was freaking me out a bit. I felt better in some ways after talking to Kagome, and felt more unsettled in others. Everyone here was sure that I was the Rin they knew…Shippo's declaration seemed to confirm it…but if these buried memories resurfaced, would I still remember who I now was? I had a creepy feeling, like a pod-person was going to erupt and wipe away all the memories that Rhiannon Tanaka Johnson had accumulated for the last twenty or so years of her life.

I didn't want that to happen, but, like a cat, my curiosity about my 'past life' (Shirley Maclaine, eat your heart out!) was possibly going to get out of hand. I hoped I could cope with the potential fall-out…


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: All I possibly own is the storyline…Takahashi-sama owns the characters!

**A/N**: **Lemon** **alert**! Be forewarned…don't want any complaints that you didn't know what you were walking into…This fic is rated **M** for 'violence and sexual situations', so if you're too young or easily shocked, come back next chapter.

_Danna_ can mean either 'husband' or 'master', as in 'of the house'; I'm going with the first of the two. This _is_ the 21st century, after all…

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Exchanged: Part Four**

**Intensity**

The car was very quiet on the drive back to Sesshomaru's apartment. My head was spinning too fast with everything I had seen, heard and met to allow me to engage in any sensible form of conversation.

Dog demons, fox demons, cat demons…reincarnations…an inter-century, inter-species blended family on a scale I'd never dreamed of. Not exactly Leave-It-To-Beaver, but definitely a close-knit bunch.

_That_ was the most surreal part. The whole kit and caboodle gave the impression that it was perfectly normal to live like this, cheek by jowl, fang by claw.

And they all just accepted me as one of the gang…or pack, as it were.

I guess the smell of frying brain cells (mine) finally reached Sesshomaru's nose, because he broke the silence. "Did you find this evening to be a little overwhelming, Rin?"

"You could say that…" I sighed, and ran my fingers through my hair, then leaned back against the headrest, closing my eyes.

"Are you all right?" His voice was rich with concern; I rolled my head over his way, and smiled at him.

"I'm okay…it's just an awful lot to take in all at once. Kagome was very kind…I'm glad I met her." A claw tenderly rubbed my cheek; I leaned into his palm, enjoying the mild tingling sensation. He dropped his hand to cover mine where it rested on my thigh…and that caused a whole different type of physical reaction, so strong it caught me totally off guard.

I jumped, and stared at his hand like it had bitten me. He started to withdraw it, but I quickly caught his wrist, and tugged his hand back to its previous position. "Sorry about that…my body seems to have a very definite reaction to your touch, but my brain hasn't caught on yet…"

"You can feel it too, then?" His voice dipped down into a rumble that resonated through my body, making parts of me go instantly hot and bothered. My face flamed at exactly the same pace. Flustered, I didn't know what to say. My body's response confirmed the suspicion I had about a pod-person taking me over. A _very_ horny pod-person. Just my luck.

While I was stuttering a response, Sesshomaru stroked his hand the length of my thigh, and then rested his claws lightly on my knee. I actually gasped, and shivered, and looked at him with wide eyes. He then took my hand, and cupped it over his thigh. We both jumped at the contact, and so did the car. I started to giggle. "This might be dangerous…"

"Indeed…this may not be the best venue for any sort of further exploration…" He quirked a smile at me, before slipping his hand under mine, and proceeded to lightly fondle my fingers. Like that was really going to help...

We spent the rest of the drive 'just' holding hands. I tried to keep my mind from wild speculation about, well, about parts of his body that nice girls shouldn't even be thinking of, never mind hoping to be introduced to. Personally. Soon.

What the hell. Maybe I never really _was_ a nice girl…I just hadn't met the _right_ bad boy yet. What would my mother say? She was already married and had me by the same age I was now…I was a late-bloomer in comparison.

We were alone in the elevator, just like last night, but this time our fingers were loosely entwined; I let my body drift over to him, until I was lightly brushing against his side. Sesshomaru slipped his hand up under my hair and circled the back of my neck with his claws, raising goosebumps. The door opened, and we walked together down the hall. I slid my arm around his waist; his claws flexed lightly against my skin.

Inside the apartment, I slipped off my shoes, and waited, my heart pounding, for the next move in this dance that I had never before completed. I was surprised when he asked, "Would you care for that cup of tea now?" Not what I was expecting. I know I looked confused. "There are a few things we should discuss before…" He let his voice trail off.

"B-before…?" His half-hooded golden eyes traveled significantly up and down my body. I blushed. Seemed to be doing a lot of that lately...

"Yes, please…that would be lovely…the tea, I mean…um, I'll just go freshen up…" I headed off to the ensuite. I caught him watching me with that molten intensity when I glanced over my shoulder before I disappeared inside. I took off the peach cardigan, folded it, and laid it on the foot of the bed, then went in to see how I looked.

Well, I'm not exactly Hollywood's definition of a sex pot, but I'll guess I have to do. Sesshomaru didn't seem to mind, so why should I? I washed my hands, brushed my teeth and fluffed my hair. I shoved myself back through the bedroom door into the living room before I had a second thought and locked myself in. Mind you, I'd seen his door-removal technique last night, and knew the hinges didn't stand a chance if he was of a mind to pursue his apparent goal.

He was standing looking out the window, the ambient light from outside softening his facial markings. Damn, he was beautiful. And he wanted _me_. No accounting for taste, but hey, I wasn't going to argue with him.

I was halfway across the room when a shimmering, tilting sensation behind my eyes had me grabbing for the back of the nearest couch. Images of brilliant light, intense heat and then darkness slammed through my brain. I think I cried out; the next thing I saw were Sesshomaru's eyes. I tried to focus on them, but I couldn't. My vision went dark again; I blindly grabbed for something to hold onto and knew I was in his arms before I sank to the floor.

"Rin?" His fingers were massaging the back of my head again.

"Fire…heat…bright light…" I slurred, clinging to him. He shifted, and pulled me closer, until my head was under his chin. The darkness behind my eyes reddened, then lightened, and I saw disjointed scenes that made no sense. A flowery meadow…cherry trees in bloom…golden-brown scaly hide warm under my hand…something green and squawking on the periphery…cold wind blowing my hair away from my face, white fur wrapped around me…heat between my thighs, lips trailing fire over my skin… candlelight, laughter, conversation…crisp layered white silk, a fan held in my fingers, a low voice chanting…skin sliding over skin, hot breath in my ear…salt air, waves crashing on a rocky shore, gulls mewling…my fingers tracing red stripes over muscled thighs…my own voice, calling his name, arching, throbbing, tensing…

"Boy, you guys did it a lot," I mumbled into Sesshomaru's chest.

"Pardon?" He was startled. I tilted back my head to look fuzzily at him.

"I think…I saw some of…the other Rin's memories…you two were, um, _busy_…a lot."

His eyes softened, then took on that liquid appearance. "Not all the time, but yes, quite often…what else did you see?"

I rubbed my eyes, which still didn't want to focus properly. "No damn wolves, thank goodness…just a mish-mash of images, like my uncle's crappy home movies… and _feelings_. I felt… secure, happy… and…um…"

"And?" he prompted, his voice doing that rumble-thing again, which made me go all fluttery inside.

"Loved." I squeaked out, and hid in his shirt. His hands stilled; I thought he caught his breath.

"Rin…you _are_ my Rin, beloved…gods, I have _missed_ you…"

Then his arms re-arranged themselves around my body, until he stood up, lifting me against his chest. Sesshomaru carried me towards the bedroom door I had just exited, while I wrapped my arms up around his neck and tried not to get all nervous about what was to come. He shouldered the door closed, closing off the world, then set me down on the edge of the bed, and knelt between my quivering knees, taking my face in his hands.

The intensity in his eyes was almost frightening; I kept blinking, thinking that he could sear my soul if I didn't look away. He slid his hands into my hair, and then kissed me carefully, almost to see if I was receptive to the idea. I could sense the restraint he was forcing himself into by the way his hands trembled. I reached around him, curling my hands around his shoulder blades, and kissed him back.

That was the dam-buster. Our kiss became deeper; his tongue flickered over my lips and I opened to him, drinking in the sensations while my body experienced an arousal so intense, it almost hurt. Sesshomaru broke the kiss, and pulled me up to standing with him, those glowing eyes holding me fast, while he moulded me against him, cupping my behind through the skirt so firmly that I could feel his erection through his pants.

I kissed him, trying for hot and wet while I fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, carefully pulling the tails out of his waistband, and then sliding it off his shoulders. I ran my hands over his chest, revelling in the sensation of velvety skin covering steel-hard muscles.

That might sound like a cliché, ladies, but that's _exactly_ what his chest felt like… have you ever smooched a competitive skateboarder? No? Oh, too bad. If you have, well, his muscles were tight and toned like that, but _way_ better…

He growled slightly when I lightly ran my thumbs over both of his nipples; they hardened instantly, and were answered by mine straining against the bra and tank top. His hands left me for a moment; then the shirt slithered the rest of the way to the floor. My waist was circled briefly, and then he slid his hands under the tank while he left my lips to kiss his way down my neck to my shoulder. When he encountered fabric, I felt him growl through my collarbone before the tank was tugged over my head and dropped onto the floor with his shirt, followed immediately by my bra. He dropped to his knees and started becoming acquainted with my breasts.

His hot breath made everything go on high alert; I arched into his mouth, gasping, the moment he kissed my nipple, flicking it with his tongue. His claws slid up to circle my other breast; carefully, he rubbed his thumb over my nipple until it was as hard as a rock. I had double handfuls of his hair by this time, and was rocking my hips against his chest, moaning. He shuddered when I bent inward, brushed the bangs away from his forehead, and kissed the blue crescent moon centred there. He took control again; I yelped when his other hand trailed up the inside of my leg, and cupped me through my panties. He gently pressed upward while I writhed against him, gasping at the sensations.

Both hands slid away from the body parts they were deliciously tormenting and hooked their thumbs into the waistband of my skirt and panties, whipping them down so fast I was barely aware of it, until he neatly took my knees out and laid me down on the bed. I lay there, panting lightly and a little disoriented, wondering vaguely how the pale green wall had suddenly turned off-white, until I managed a full-body blush when he unzipped his pants and let them drop.

Oh, my. He was striped around his thighs and over his hips, the red ribbons curving down below his navel to disappear in his silver pubic hair.

My first thought was _wow_… and my second was far more unprintable, but had to do with his impressive anatomical appearance at that moment.

Sesshomaru knelt on the edge of the bed, his eyes boring into mine, then began kissing his way up, starting at my knee, then swirling his tongue in my navel before going back to begin again on the other leg. His hair trailed along the sheets; I wound a few strands in my fingers, tugging on them gently in response to his attentions. His hooded eyes were liquid gold; he bent his head towards the centre of my heat, inhaling deeply as he did. It was a good thing I was already horizontal, because that look would have buckled my knees on the spot.

His tongue trailing fire across my skin, he kissed and licked his way up to my breasts, and played lazily with my nipples for a few minutes, until I was squirming as well as moaning, trying to not pull on his hair too hard. I felt first one knee and then the other, slide between my thighs; my hips bucked violently against him of their own accord.

"Ooooh, Sesshooomaaaruuu…" I had barely gasped his name, when his hot mouth attacked mine, his body sliding into place between my legs. I let go of his hair, and caressed his cheeks, running my fingertips lightly along his stripes and then outlining his ears, to start over again while he growled into my mouth, our tongues sliding sensuously around each other.

"Rin…_aijin_…" His voice was rough-edged, his eyes dark with desire.

I arched my back and spread my legs wider, blushing at myself. "Please…" I whispered, stroking his cheeks and ears, running my nails along his shoulders, his hair spilling over us to pool on the sheets. His hand slid under my hip, tilting my pelvis upward, until I felt him pressing at my entrance. I whimpered into his mouth, out of desire and a touch of fear, but he was gentle, whispering reassurances, rocking into me gradually, until I felt a vague pressure point give way, and he was completely sheathed inside me.

When he surged his first full thrust into me, I convulsed slightly, but the shock quickly passed. Sesshomaru locked his hands under the back of my head, cupping me on the right angle to be kissed thoroughly while our bodies moved together. I ran my hands up and down his back, feeling the muscles tensing and releasing, pressing him deeper into me, gasping and moaning into his mouth as the sensations increased and wound together into a seamless white-hot intensity.

I know I screamed his name when I came, and it must have been pretty loud, because I caught him wince before my eyes snapped shut in reflex. He held himself still, while my body pulsed around him, until I relaxed into a warm oozy cocoon of fulfillment. Then, he slid out of me, turning me until he was curved against my back, his arms wrapped closely around me and his breath cooling my neck.

I passed out briefly, and awoke to a curious vibration rumbling against my shoulder blades. Sesshomaru was purring, one claw tip tracing delicate patterns on my hip.

"Mmmm…thank you, Sesshomaru."

His claw stopped, mid pattern, then resumed. "You are welcome, Rin…tell me, are you always this formal?"

I rolled over in his arms, and smiled lazily up at him, tracing a pattern of my own on his chest with my fingertip. "Not always, since this is a first for me…my mother always told me to be polite if someone ever does something really wonderful…so, thank you."

He snorted gently, then tucked me under his chin against his chest, and resumed purring, moving the patterns to the base of my spine where they did some very interesting things to parts of me that I thought wouldn't be ready for action any time too soon. Apparently I recover really quickly. That was a good thing, considering what was about to happen.

Sesshomaru curled himself around me even closer, as if he had to protect me from something. I heard his breathing accelerate and become ragged. Wondering, I tried to push away from his chest, to see the expression on his face, but he kept me pinned under his chin. I laid very still, stroking his skin gently, while he shivered and twitched, in the grip of some deep emotion.

"Nagasaki."

The word was filled with darkness and pain. I burrowed in closer to him, making soothing noises. His hand convulsively gripped a handful of my hair, as if he was trying to catch hold of something. "I lost you…during the bombing of Nagasaki…I nearly lost my mind as well. If only I had sent you to the fortress instead…I stayed in Tokyo, trying to hold the centre together as the war unravelled around us. I thought you would be safe there, but that _witch_…she found out, and made sure that you could not escape. There was nothing for me, for Tenseiga… And then to lose all trace of you, until now…then nearly lose you to her evil again…" He was either gasping or growling; it wasn't too clear.

I remembered the scorching brilliance of heat and light, and knew that I experienced the moment of her death.

The wind witch. _Kagura_. The name jumped up right in front of me, out of one of the darkest corners of my mind, and glared at me. The enemy. But why?

"_Aijin_… I can't remember…why does Kagura want to kill me?" He snarled reflexively at her name; his hands pressed me closer to him.

"She was furious that I chose you over her, Rin, and she wanted revenge. She tried before to kill you, thinking that I would then turn to her; her rage was all-consuming when she discovered otherwise."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." I muttered.

He mumbled something inarticulate into my hair, then suddenly rolled me over, facing away from him again. "Rin…I need you…will you…please…"

His urgent need was naked in his voice; I shivered, and whispered "Yes…_aijin_." His arms crossed over my chest, his hands gripping my shoulders, and he shuddered. Keeping one arm around me, he carefully rolled both of us up onto our knees. I couldn't help but grin to myself, when I realized what position he was intending to use, then moved to let him know that I understood. I hoped I wouldn't giggle if he barked…

He positioned himself behind me, and tilted my hips up to meet his. I braced my hands on the sheets, and pushed backwards slightly; he groaned when he slid into me, his claws gripping my hips. He began to thrust, but it was like he couldn't quite control himself. He had barely settled into a rhythm that I could respond to, when I was startled by a deep howl ricocheting off the walls, and the convulsive shuddering of his release. One arm tightened across my hips, keeping us locked together, the other slammed down beside mine, keeping us from falling over… but it was more paw than hand.

_Woof._

Long silver hair swept down and across, tangling with mine, swinging gently while he gasped against my back. The arm attached to the paw was covered in fine silver fur, completely obscuring the stripes around his wrist. A long tongue drew a wet line up between my shoulder blades to the nape of my neck, then licked my ear, two parallel somethings scraping my skin along the same path. Sesshomaru's voice was barely recognizable. "_Aisai_…Rin…I'm sorry…I nearly…lost control."

We slowly collapsed together. I tried to roll over to snuggle against his chest; he gently but firmly prevented it. I squirmed in protest, and then words that came out of somewhere deep in my memory pushed to the surface. "Sesshomaru…_danna_…I know what you are…let me see you, please?" His breath hitched.

"Beloved…you have not seen me in this form…"

"Trust me… please?"

He released me; I rolled towards him, and cuddled in. It was clear that the transformation was fading, albeit slowly, such was the intensity of his emotion. I pushed myself up on one elbow, and stroked his face towards me. He kept his eyes closed. His hair was shaggier, as opposed to sleek, and his lower face had the slightest suggestion of a protruding muzzle. His canines had elongated into impressive fangs, and his now very dark red cheek stripes were frayed along the edges. I ran my fingertip over his lips and down his fangs, then leaned in and kissed the stripes closest to me. His eyes flew open, and I found myself looking into red pools with sky blue pupils. I bent to kiss the stripes again, and he pulled his face away. "Do not…it is too much…I might…"

"Might what, _danna_?" I purred, lightly brushing his lips with my own.

"If I transformed further while mating with you, I might severely injure you…" Not to mention taking out the floor above this room… I nodded, and lay back down beside him, draping my arm across his silver-furred chest, and one leg over his thigh. He nuzzled my hair, and hugged me close. "My _aisai_…I will never let you go, now that I have found you again." I fell asleep on his shoulder, lulled by the rumble of his purr, and warmth of his embrace.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ**

**Stolen**

Ladies, if you are going to lose your virginity, I highly recommend losing it to a silver-haired, hard-bodied dog demon that hasn't been laid in sixty years.

Talk about having your bell rung.

I surfaced slowly, sleep sliding away softly. I became aware of being pinned down by various weights draped across various parts of my body, particularly my shoulder, and _that_ particular weight was breathing gently. I cracked an eye.

Sesshomaru's silver head rested against my cheek, his breath exhaling warmly across my chest. My ribs were held under a striped arm; one clawed hand was circling my breast, the tips flexing slightly against the delicate skin every so often. Further down, I could feel a muscled thigh being friendly with one of mine. I closed my eyes, smiling, thinking about where else he was striped…and then blushed when I remembered tracing those stripes with my tongue.

Did I really do that?

I had awoken in the middle of the night, chilled, and Sesshomaru considered it his marital duty to warm me up. I had responded, um, _enthusiastically_, to that noble gesture, and we ended up not going back to sleep for quite a while. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to walk straight, or sit properly... Hope that nobody pulled a fire alarm somewhere in the building…

His hand left my breast, and slowly stroked down my body to my thigh and back, brushing away stray locks of both our hair. I sighed, and kissed the crown of his head, running my fingers up and down his back. He pushed up on his elbow, and tenderly kissed my cheek. I slipped my arms up around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss of my own. "Good morning, _danna_…" That word made me blush lightly again…but that is what my little inner voice insisted he was.

Well, I had recent experience that he was really, _really_ appreciative when I called him my _husband_. Thoughts of my mother's reaction to all this, and without an announcement, ring or ceremony involved tiptoed in through the side door of my mind, and were ruthlessly shoved into a mental broom closet, the door firmly locked behind them.

"Good morning, _aisai_…sleep well?" His hooded eyes and lazy smile let me know that he was being disingenuous; I furrowed my brow and pretended to think about it.

"Hmmm… someone kept messing my hair up, but other than that… it was all right." He arched a fine eyebrow, and then leaned in so that his lips were barely touching my ear. Icurved my neck towards him, to give him better access.

"I enjoyed 'messing your hair up', beloved…"

We were fairly well involved with saying a non-verbal "good morning" to each other, when a tremendous _crack_ hit the wall behind the headboard of the bed. Sesshomaru's reaction was instantaneous and lightning-quick. He seized me around my waist and pulled me off the mattress with him, while grabbing a sword from underneath the bed.

Well, my dad keeps a .22 handy…although a big shiny sword is in its own league altogether. And I can assure you, that my dad wouldn't look quite so impressive while holding his weapon…and he sure wouldn't be buck naked, either. He's a flannel PJ kind of guy...

Tucked up against Sesshomaru's chest, gripping his forearm, I realized that the wall behind the bed must be windows, because heavy drapery shrouded the whole expanse. Another crash had him working us backwards, against the rear wall. "Rin, quickly…prepare yourself to leave this room." He released me, while never taking his eyes off the far wall, his sword levelled.

"What is it?" I whispered, my heart beginning to thump a bit faster.

"We are under attack, my love. It was not unexpected…" I slid under his arm, and backed into the ensuite. I had a few things to attend to, among them the fluids suddenly obeying the pull of gravity down my thighs, as well as the rather obvious scent of what we had been doing for most of the night. I quickly cleaned up as much as I could and washed my face, noting in passing that my lips were nicely swollen, and then nervously peered around the doorframe.

Sesshomaru was in the process of tying the sash on a dark kimono, the sword on the bed to free his hands. He picked up a thin silky white robe in his claws, and swung it over my shoulders. After I fumbled with the ties, he wrapped a navy blue damask kimono patterned with apricot flowers down the thigh-length sleeve around me, and tied the sash for me. He ran his claws through my hair, and smiled tenderly into my face, before cradling me close. "Come, _aisai_. Unfortunately I have had no time to prepare you…but it cannot be helped…just remember, everyone must bow to you, Rin. To our generals, you may return their bow, but to all others, you only incline your head."

I pushed away from his chest and smiled wryly up at him. "I'm used to greeting people with a handshake…you're making it sound like I'm royalty or something."

"You _are_ royalty, beloved…you are now my consort, the Lady of the Western Lands. Our clan members and allies will give you a period of grace, never fear." He pushed a scabbard through his sash, sheathed his sword, and opened the door. I had half a dazed moment to clue in that I was wearing a _tomisode _kimono, signalling that I was a married woman, before he whisked me out the door. Saturday night and Hiromi's bright _furisode_ kimono seemed a lifetime ago…

The room was full of very large men, and a few women, dressed in either armour like Sesshomaru's or multilayered kimonos. I would probably have stopped dead in shock, registering all these bodies in what I thought was a private residence, but Sesshomaru's arm around my waist swept me into the centre of the room.

Four men in very elaborate armour decorated with thick silk cording on the shoulders came to attention. All were tall, had pointed ears, and large canine teeth. Their nostrils flared when they clapped slit-pupil eyes on me, and then they sniffed, as discretely as possible. I was reminded of my outdoorsy uncle's pack of hunting dogs, noses quivering, as they picked up a scent. There was a significant pause, and a profound silence fell, punctuated only by the sound of something impacting against the plate glass windows.

One of the men stepped forward, an older demon with silver-threaded light brown hair. He bowed very deeply, first to Sesshomaru and then to me. "My lord and lady…this is a wonderful surprise." Like a spell had been broken, the other three also bowed, as a murmur ran through the room.

"This is General Tsume, leader of our allied wing. General, I am pleased to introduce you to my wife, the lady Rin."

I bowed, and then held out my hand to the general, intending to shake his hand. "I am pleased to meet you, General…" He took my hand in both of his, holding it firmly before bringing it to his lips. The other three senior officers followed suit, Sesshomaru murmuring the introductions. We were interrupted by a particularly loud _crash_ rattling the windows.

Sesshomaru's claws tightened on my waist, prickling right through the thick fabric. "The ravens obviously did not expect to meet a sacred barrier. Lady Kagome's powers are as effective as ever." I noticed that it was just barely light outside; a new day was definitely dawning in my experience.

A senior lady demon dressed in shaded layers of golden-brown stepped forward and bowed very low. General Tsume took the lady's hand. "Lady Rin, allow me to introduce my wife, Lady Shiraha." A pair of dark gold, vertically-slit eyes smiled warmly. I inclined my head, and then held out my hand to her, smiling in return.

"Pleased to meet you, Lady Shiraha." She clasped my hand and gently tugged me towards her. Sesshomaru let me go; I resisted slightly, but his hand in the centre of my back gently propelled me forward. Lady Shiraha tucked my hand under her arm, and led me to the couches, where several other beautifully dressed ladies awaited, like a flock of exotic birds. Sesshomaru obviously trusted her to introduce me to the other members of what Kagome had referred to…the court of the Western Lands.

Being thrown into a shark tank to improve my swimming would have been preferable. A tank of _hungry_ sharks.

Lady Shiraha introduced me around, the ladies bowing deeply, me inclining my head politely. I remembered how I had obviously insulted Sesshomaru on the street in the Asakusa district, when I had not bowed to him…lucky for me he was in a good mood at the time. Someone who knew their way around the kitchen, and wearing a dark kimono that looked like a uniform, brought dainty tea cups on a tray; I was wondering how to discretely inquire about a more substantial breakfast, when a major commotion erupted at the door.

An armoured, tattered, bleeding man staggered in, and went down on one knee before Sesshomaru. General Tsume moved in between them, his hand on his sword hilt. A tense silence fell over all of us.

"Report."

"The shrine is under assault by overwhelming forces, my lord. I was sent by Lord Inuyasha to request reinforcements, but I barely made it here, such is the size of the force attacking this building."

"A diversion…they have caught us out, General. Put the plans in motion to breakout from here and assist my brother…"

A flurry of activity emptied the room, five of the ladies disappearing to accompany their husbands (I guess…fathers or brothers, maybe? Demonic ages are so hard to figure out), leaving me with Lady Shiraha and another woman named Lady Kagetsu. Sesshomaru, General Tsume and a few other officer-types clustered near the windows, conferring quietly. The number of things thumping and spattering against the windows was as intense as ever; I was worrying my sleeve, thinking about Kagome and the children, and hoping they were all right.

The kitchen fellow must have been a mind reader; either that, or my stomach growling was loud enough to alert him, because a lacquered tray of what was the loveliest traditional-style breakfast I had seen since arriving in this country was deposited on the table for us to share. The other two regarded me with bright eyes; I smiled graciously, and indicated we should begin. Lady Shiraha poured me a cup of tea; I remembered to hold the cup with two hands. Sesshomaru and General Tsume dismissed the other men, and joined us. Frantically scanning my brain for any relevant etiquette lessons I could dig up, I poured tea for Sesshomaru, and then for the general. Pulling back my sleeves, I collected a bowl of miso soup and a spoon, and used two hands to give them to Sesshomaru. He graciously accepted, amusement tingeing his smile.

General Tsume cleared his throat. I jumped, wondering if I'd offended someone by mistake. He smiled at me, showing off some interesting golden yellow teeth, like he was a twenty-pack-a-day smoker…but these teeth were shiny and clean. "I am very pleased that you have rejoined us, Lady Rin…your presence harbingers a turning point in this conflict with the wind witch, I am sure of it."

Before I could reply, a squeaky, little-girl voice interrupted. "Your eyes are so blue, Lady Rin! Where does such a _tall_ girl hail from?" Lady Kagetsu's golden eyes were sharp, although she did a good fluttering job to distract me. I wondered how much information was too much; I noticed that General Tsume's eyes were fastened on her in an intense sort of way.

"I am from the United States…my grandmother was born in Japan, and emigrated with my American grandfather when his tour of duty ended. I was born and raised in California."

The rate of eyelash fluttering increased. I was feeling uneasy; Sesshomaru lightly touched the back of my hand with a claw tip. "Lady Rin has only recently arrived in Japan, Lady Kagetsu. I am very glad to have been reunited with her; she is unaware of many of our customs, but I am sure she will feel comfortable with her role very soon." Thankful for this rescue, and even surer of an undercurrent crackling with tension, I inclined my head to her. Lady Tsume poured more tea for us; her husband first, Sesshomaru second, me third, and Lady Kagetsu last. I realized my mental filing cabinets were going to need a thorough cleaning out and dusting to keep all this new information together.

If anyone knows where I can find a copy of "Demonic Etiquette for Dummies", please let me know. I'd be very grateful.

There was a bigger contretemps out in the hall; running feet and harsh shouting. Sesshomaru and General Tsume rose, their sword hilts gripped in their hands.

Inuyasha crashed through the door.

I gasped, and gathering the kimono up, shot past Sesshomaru to run across the room to him. He was a mess, to put it mildly. His fire-rat was shredded, and he was bloodied. So was the Tetsusaiga. He smiled crookedly down at me, and was about to say something when he obviously got a whiff of my scent. His jaw dropped, and the look of utter surprise quickly changed to a sardonic smirk. "Well, Rin, looks like congratulations are in order…hell of a job, though…we gained one and lost one today." His face instantly became drawn and haggard.

I caught him by the shoulders, and was about to say something, when Kagome came around the doorframe, supported by her mother, Tsuki cradled in her arms. The look of complete despair on her face should have warned me what was coming.

"They took Tai."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: All I possibly own is the storyline…Takahashi-sama owns the characters!

**A/N**: Coarse language alert…

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Exchanged: Part Five**

**Decisions**

"They took Tai."

Inuyasha's voice was close to breaking. Cold fingers reached into my gut and squeezed. I hugged him as hard as I could, then went to Kagome and embraced her tightly. Tsuki cried out fearfully at my touch, and burrowed deeper into her mother's neck. Kagome soothed her while trying to smile at me. I took her elbow, and brought her into the room, seating her and Mrs. Higurashi on the couch. Lady Kagetsu moved aside with a flick of her skirts; Lady Shiraha, in contrast, fussed over them while I asked the servant to clear the table, in preparation for serving the new arrivals anything they needed.

Sesshomaru dropped to one knee in front of Kagome; he tenderly touched Tsuki's back. The little girl screamed and twitched; he bowed his head briefly before smiling at Kagome and placing his hand on her arm. He also nodded at Mrs. Higurashi before moving to stand facing his brother. Something crackled between them; I saw Inuyasha nod slightly.

"Lady Kagetsu, please attend Lord Shippo in the infirmary." It wasn't a request, and after a little sniff, the lady in question vacated the apartment. The door was closed firmly behind her. "Lady Rin… General Tsume… Lady Shiraha… please step this way." We moved in a body to the other side of the apartment; my fingers reached out to clutch the trailing edge of Inuyasha's sleeve.

"The ravens attacked in force just at dawn; they threw everything at us. We held them off long enough to send a runner, since all the communications were down, and then all hell broke loose. We were swarmed; it's a miracle Kagome wasn't hurt in the onslaught, because she was right out there, pegging away with her bow. The assholes smashed through a wall in the house, slashed Kirara up pretty good and grabbed both Tsuki and Tai. They used Tsuki to draw us away from Tai, and then when the fucker carrying him made a clean getaway, Tsuki was _dropped_. Shippo inflated and caught her, and then was injured himself. _Bastards_."

Knowing what those talons and beaks could do to tender flesh, I flinched, my heart going out to the little girl sobbing quietly behind us. "What do we do now? We can't just leave him …."

General Tsume was grim. "All we can do is wait… they will let us know the price for his life…" I shuddered, and reached for Inuyasha, hugging him again. He held me tight for a long moment; I could feel him trying to control his breathing, his face hidden in my shoulder. He finally held me away from him, smiling although his eyes were moist, then grinned cheekily at his brother, shaking his head.

"You sure don't waste time, do you, Sesshomaru? Claimed, bedded, possibly pupped and then tossed in with those court bitches, all in just over twenty-four hours…bit of a shock treatment for the poor girl, don't you think?"

_Pupped?_ Right, potential result of unprotected sex with a dog demon…_oh, boy_. I'd better make sure mom was sitting down, with a stiff drink, when I told her about all this…

Inuyasha chuckled at the expression on my face, and handed me back to Sesshomaru, who was glowering magnificently. General Tsume and Lady Shiraha looked at each other, then she whispered something in his ear. He nodded, and she excused herself, whisking out the door. I bobbed my head to the general, and went back to Kagome. Tsuki was now just sniffling; I slid beside Kagome and put my arm around her shoulders. "It'll be okay; Tai will be home with you soon." Tsuki peered at me from under Kagome's chin; her pretty little face was damp with tears, and she was chewing on her thumb hard enough to make it bleed.

"Tai gone," she whispered.

I smiled gently at her. "He'll be back soon, sweetie. Uncle Sesshomaru and your Daddy will make sure he comes home." She looked around for a moment, and then jumped off Kagome's lap to run to Inuyasha. He scooped her up and held her close, his face buried in her luminous hair, while she hugged him tightly around the neck. Then, she twisted and held out her arms to Sesshomaru. He took her, and the expression on his face would have broken a far tougher heart than mine. Tsuki patted his cheeks with both tiny hands, looking into his eyes intently.

"Unca Sess bring Tai back?" He nodded gravely. She hugged him too, and then wanted down to scamper back to us. She climbed up to hug her grandmother, then crawled across her mother's lap to give me one, too. Satisfied that she'd done her job, she snuggled into Kagome's arms and promptly went to sleep. Mrs. Higurashi ruffled her granddaughter's hair, and then smiled wanly at me.

"I could do with some breakfast, now, if your kitchen staff is up to it, Rin." The kitchen certainly was, and a second round of beautifully-prepared food arrived on trays, accompanied by carafes of water and tea and a plate of sliced fruit.

After we ate and worried some more, I accompanied Kagome and Mrs. Higurashi out of the room to another apartment across the hall from Sesshomaru's. They wanted to put Tsuki down to sleep away from the main action. I looked around curiously. The apartments were identical in layout, just mirror-images of each other. Kagome noticed. "Inuyasha and I stay here occasionally when we want an evening away from the children…Sesshomaru would have slept here on Saturday night. The whole floor belongs to the family; the rest of the court is spread out over the whole building."

And here I thought he'd slept on the couch.

"Can I get anything for either of you? You mustn't have had time to pack…"

She waved her hand tiredly. "The staff are probably bringing things out of storage right now…please excuse me, Rin, but I think I need to lie down for a while…"

"Of course…" I closed the door behind me, and was startled to be facing a couple of large guard-types flanking Sesshomaru's entryway. Either I hadn't noticed them on the way out…pretty hard to miss two guys, each the size of an armoured refrigerator…or they had just arrived on scene. They bowed to me, and one swung the door open. I remembered to bob my head at them, and muttered a 'thank you' for good measure as I scuttled past.

Just the dog brothers were left, the kitchen guy working away unobtrusively. The events of the day had hit a lull. I was unsettled, and couldn't sit still on the couch, even as I drank some tea. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha conferred quietly, moving to kneel at the dining table, maps and papers spread out over its surface. I fished around for a book or magazine, but I couldn't concentrate. The sense of something coming unbalanced was too strong, and I was conscious of a distinct feeling of dread growing in the back of my being. Sesshomaru glanced over at me a few times, probably picking up my fidgeting (I was squirming like a two-year-old in a crowded waiting room). I decided I'd better make myself scarce so that I didn't distract them.

I was just contemplating a nap and a quick shower, when Sesshomaru beckoned to me. I was in the process of crossing the room to him, when the door behind me was flung open. The hinges in this place must be replaced frequently…I turned to see a very grim-faced liveried man, who came several paces into the room before dropping to one knee and bowing his head. Sesshomaru spoke, close to my ear, his voice as cool as a breeze off a frozen lake. "What are the terms?"

"My lord…" The messenger, who looked like he normally ate rebar for breakfast with a side of barbed wire, hesitated. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha both growled, which wasn't the most reassuring of sounds at the best of times. I stepped forward and bent down, taking the man's clawed hand in both of my own. He looked up, startled, his cat-slit eyes wide.

I smiled reassuringly at him. "Go on, please."

He swallowed very hard, and looked away. His voice was low. "Master Tai's life in exchange for… the Lady Rin."

Everything stopped, then spun crazily for a second. I closed my eyes, squeezing his hand tightly while I tried to breathe. Getting a grip, I rose and patted his shoulder. I heard my own voice speaking in measured tones. "Thank you. I know that must have been a difficult message to convey. When must the transfer take place?"

He held onto my other hand, looking up at me. "At two hours before dusk this evening… My lady…I do not know what to say…"

I pulled him up to standing, and tried to smile confidently. "Now that we know the terms, plans can be made. You have done well. Please be ready to carry out whatever is decided as a course of action." Who was this person that had taken over my mouth? Sounded like me, but internally, I was screaming, not talking like a news anchor. I released his hand; he bowed deeply to me, then to the brothers standing behind me, and left. I took a deep breath, and turned around, lifting my chin. "Well, now what?"

Sesshomaru's eyes were bleeding crimson, and he was flexing his claws. Inuyasha answered for both of them; I noticed that his grip on the Tetsusaiga's sheath was white-knuckled. "_No damn way_ that filthy bitch is getting her hands on you, Rin. We'll find another way." They swept past me, out the door, and before it closed, I heard Sesshomaru roar. There was plenty of quick movement in the corridor; I guessed that no-one wanted to miss out on this meeting.

In the silence of the apartment, I had to collect my thoughts. Once gathered, I immediately tried to ball them up and stuff them out of sight. I knew that Tai would be dead if I wasn't handed over. This wasn't a fairy tale, and I doubted that anyone would be able to ride up on a white horse (or glowing ball of light) to rescue me. Those beaks were razor-sharp…I suddenly felt very, very ill, but I knew what I had to do.

I'm not a fucking hero, I'm a computer geek, _dammit_! Damn all nasty bird demons to whatever hell they keep open for them, and for what it's worth, damn all sexy dog demon lords, too. I should be sitting in a café in San Jose, mainlining high-octane coffee and regaling my girlfriends with judiciously edited juicy details, not worrying about _dying _the day after my first real sexual experience.

How operatic. Maybe I needed an inspiring aria or two to psych myself up. _It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings_…

I marched across to the bedroom door, and shut myself inside. I had to do this quickly, before I lost my nerve and went fetal into a little gibbering ball in the corner.

The housekeeping crew hadn't been in, what with all the fuss. I assume there were housekeepers; if there was a kitchen guy, I'm equally sure Sesshomaru didn't do laundry or windows. The bed was as unmade and rumpled as we had left it, our clothes scattered untidily. I searched the closets, and found my clean t-shirt, jeans and jacket folded neatly on a shelf, next to my underwear. I scooped them, and headed into the ensuite. I very quickly showered, and dressed. I braided my hair, and then twisted it again into a low bun. Any of my girlfriends back home would have immediately identified my tough-bitch look and got out of the way. Hurrying out of the ensuite, I sat down on the bed to pull on my socks, and noticed Sesshomaru's black shirt from the night before lying crumpled on the floor.

What was _that_ look for? How many of you have swiped a boyfriend's shirt to wear, because it reminded you of him? Don't say you haven't at least _thought_ about it…

I pulled it on over my t-shirt, buttoned it halfway and tucked it in. Something to be said for nearly being the same height as my Big Dog…on the other Rin, it would have hung down around her knees. I shouldered into my jean jacket, folded the cuffs of his shirt over, and stood the collar up. I was about to grab the door handle, when I had to lean my forehead against the wall for a moment.

I was scared _shitless_. I _didn't _want to do this. I _had_ to do this. _Fuck_.

I wondered if the other Rin had ever sworn in a distinctly unladylike way…and suddenly, I _knew_ she had a temper like mine. Maybe I'd run into her in the afterlife, and we could compare notes...or could reincarnations do that? Guess I might be finding out…

She would have done _exactly_ the same thing that I was going to do, especially if it involved a child. For an uncomfortable moment, I wondered if _she_ was driving my impulse to save Tai. It's a stupid pod-person that deliberately kills off the host, so that was unlikely.

I also knew that my decision would nearly kill Sesshomaru. I didn't want to think about that, or I really would lose my nerve.

The kitchen guy looked at me, open-mouthed, a cloth dangling from his fingers as I bounced out of the bedroom. I grinned at him. "Which way to the war room?" He just stood and stared. I waved, stooped to put on my shoes, and spun out of the entryway.

Once in the corridor, it was pretty obvious which room was excitement central, because I could hear Inuyasha bellowing from four doors down. The two guards were non-plussed when I erupted from between them, and marched down to face off against two more armoured types. "Open up, boys…I have business inside." They regarded me impassively. I pointed a finger at them. "In the name of the Lady of the Western Lands, I command you to open these doors!" My voice got a little shrill at the end of that sentence; they both winced, and hesitantly reached for the handles. I smiled sweetly. "Thank you, gentlemen."

There was no turning back. I took a deep breath.

The room was very crowded. Inuyasha stopped in mid-pace at the opposite end when the doors opened; Sesshomaru was standing to the side. When I stepped into the room, I tugged on the bottom hem of my jacket and straightened up. The people closest to me turned to see what Inuyasha was looking at. I was suddenly, abundantly, _searingly_ nervous; this bunch could probably smell my fear from three floors away _and _with miserable head colds.

The crowd parted ahead of me, until I was standing in front of my recently acquired brother-in-law. His golden eyes were tinged with crimson, and some faint ragged stripes were visible on his cheeks. I grinned, trying to be cocky and confident, and probably failing miserably. "Let's go bring Tai home, brother."

He was staggered, but recovered nicely, shaking his head, never taking his eyes from mine. "No, Rin…you weren't asked to do this."

"I know what they'll do to him…how do you think that _I _could live, with Tai's life on my conscience? They are ruthless bastards…he's only a pawn in a sick game, and I _won't_ have him used. Unless someone has a better idea, I think our course of action is obvious."

There; that was my 'hero' speech. I only hoped that I wouldn't faint dead away from fear at what would happen when the ravens got a hold of me. I reached out and patted Inuyasha's arm, trying to smile cheerfully. "Besides, if all else fails, I seem to have a pretty good chance at reincarnation."

Inuyasha swept me into his arms, and hugged me tightly. He held me away from him, searching my face, and then turned both of us towards his brother. I gulped, and forced myself to meet Sesshomaru's eyes, which were dark and unreadable, as remote as his expression. I bowed very deeply to him. "Forgive me, _danna_, but I must do this. Thank you for the happiness you have brought me…I am so very sorry our time together couldn't be longer." He didn't answer, just continued to gaze steadily at me from those dark blood-red eyes.

A flicker of movement caught my eye. General Tsume was standing there, looking more than a little ruffled. I smiled wryly, and addressed him. "If, by any chance, I get a shot in at one of those bastards, where is the best place to hit them?"

He seemed surprised by the question, but readily answered. "The neck. The only way to make sure they are dead is to decapitate them. Do you have some weapons training, my lady?"

I shook my head. "No. My chances are less than zero, but it's the thought that counts…"

He bowed deeply to me. "Your spirit truly suits you to be the mate of Lord Sesshomaru…we will do our utmost to rescue you, my lady, do not fear."

Inuyasha jerked his head. "Clear out, _now_." The room hastily emptied, leaving the three of us in a frozen tableau. Inuyasha wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and kissed my temple. "We will get you out of this, Rin…we won't leave you to those bastards, I swear it."

"Say good-bye to Kagome for me, please. It was really wonderful meeting all of you…I just wish it had been for longer… if this is destiny, it really sucks to be me right now, huh?" He didn't answer, just touched my cheek with his fingertips, and was gone.

Rather than look at Sesshomaru, who hadn't flicked so much as an eyelash the whole time since I came through the door, I looked out the window instead. It was now late afternoon; there were only a couple more hours left until we had to convene at the transfer site, wherever that was. I tried to swallow the huge lump in my throat, and bowed my head, squeezing my eyelids together to stop the tears from leaking out.

"Sesshomaru…I wish…I wish…if wishes came true, I wouldn't ever have to leave you…but I can't let those birds have Tai. If the price of his life is my death… I am willing to pay it." He didn't respond, didn't even blink. This was going to be tough. I grinned crookedly. "Think positive… if you wait around for twenty or so years, there's a good chance you'll find me again…"

"I have waited too long for you as it is, Rin…I will _NOT_ lose you again!"

His roar deafened me, and I flinched away from the blast, even though I knew it wasn't directed at me. Then he was pinning me tightly against his chest, his claws biting into the fabric of my jacket. His breathing was harsh and ragged, and his sword hilt was jabbing me in the gut. I wrapped my arms around him, sliding my hands under his hair and stroking his back in long sweeps. I could feel his heart pounding violently; I hugged him tighter, willing him to stop his transformation, and hold me for a while longer. Finally, his breathing calmed somewhat, and his hands became gentle on my body, moving in deliberate patterns, as if he was memorizing how I felt against him.

He'd better stop it, or the crowd outside the door would be listening in on something x-rated.

Then he started kissing me, starting at my forehead, and working his way down my face; tiny, light, butterfly kisses rained tenderly, until he hovered a moment before gently, carefully, pressing his lips to mine. I slid my hands up his back, curled my fingers over his shoulders and kissed him back as intensely as I could. He broke the kiss and locked me with eyes of molten gold, the red having drained away. I drowned in his eyes for a long moment, and then with a muttered oath, he gathered me against him for a desperate embrace. I clung limpet-tight to him, wishing I never had to leave his arms, because the big, bad world was looking pretty damn scary right now.

Once he let me go, that would be it. I'd never see him again. I couldn't bear the thought, and tried to push it away, but it always came back, like an annoying mosquito, and wouldn't allow me to enjoy these peaceful last moments in his arms before the storm broke.

"I-I have to go, Sesshomaru…_danna_…please don't forget this version of 'Rin'…"

He gripped my face in his hands, his eyes boring into mine. "I will not forget you, _aisai,_ because you will be returned to me. I will _not_ let the witch have you."

I tried to smile. "Then let's not say good-bye…_au revoir_, my love." He looked puzzled. "It means, 'until we meet again'…" Then he really kissed me, melting my body into his until I was nearly whimpering with desire. _Damn_. I wanted him to take me up against the wall, or let me straddle him on the floor, chasing all fears away in the white heat of the moment.

Then I never would leave him, and Tai would die, and so would a piece of Kagome's and Inuyasha's hearts. _Damn_. When he shifted his hands, and it felt like he had full intentions of taking us horizontal, I quickly stepped away. The look on his face was as stricken as his brother's. I caught one of his hands, and pressed a kiss on his palm, then turned and walked away. My eyes started blurring. At the door, I paused, and turned back to blow him a kiss, before slipping out.

There was no time to mourn. I blinked hard, to clear the moisture from my eyes. Inuyasha stood there, surrounded by about a dozen tough-looking fellows in dark leather that were armed to the canines with various swords, spears and battle-axes. I wiped a shaking hand over my face, and pushed away from the doors, trying to will confidence into mywatery smile. "Is this my escort?" He nodded, and held out his hand to me.

"I'm coming too…I want to smell the bastards that touched my kid, so I'll know who to kill the next time I come across them." I had just taken the proffered hand, when we were all startled by an unearthly howl shaking the very walls of the corridor. If my hair hadn't been braided firmly, it would have stood on end. "Come on, Rin…as long as he can smell you, he won't be able to think straight…and we need him to do the strategy thing as soon as possible."

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ**

**Confrontation**

We sat on a couple of rocks at the exchange point, waiting. It was a wild and desolate spot, probably a national park or something, because there were no habitations for a few miles. We were well outside Tokyo, having travelled for around three hours roughly north at a fairly fast clip, although I could see the lights of a city off in the distance. I felt uncomfortably exposed, but my escort was showing few signs of nervousness.

Expecting a ride in a SUV or van, I had been surprised to be led up to the roof of the building. Inuyasha went down on one knee in front of me. "Climb on, Rin…we have a long way to go…"

I honestly don't know how Kagome did it. When Inuyasha came in for a landing, he _really_ planted himself before we sprang off again. My spine was thoroughly jarred, and by the end, my fingers and legs were numb from gripping his shoulders and hips so tightly. _And_ she used to shoot arrows at the same time…

Our pack of guards was moving around, alert and springy, like my uncle's hunting dogs right before they were sent off after a scent. I knew a couple of them had hidden, in case the ravens tried something. Suddenly, I felt very, very tired. The adrenaline had run out; I contemplated sliding off the rock for a quick nap. Inuyasha noticed me blinking blearily, and scooped me roughly into his lap. When I looked up at him, he merely grinned, and arranged my head against his shoulder. "Try to catch a few winks, Rin. I have a feeling it's going to be a very long night."

If I knew then what I knew later, I'd have tried pulling a Rip Van Winkle to avoid the whole thing.

I actually did manage to doze off for a little while. Inuyasha gently shook me, and whispered in my ear, "They're here, Rin…showtime." Instantly awake, I scrambled to my feet, to see at least two and a half dozen dark shapes winging towards us. I had to suppress the impulse to run and hide. They landed about fifty feet away, and three of them transformed into their humanoid state. One of them was carrying Tai.

Inuyasha was right behind me, his breath tickling my neck as it accelerated. He dropped one hand onto my shoulder, and I felt the other hand start to twitch towards the Tetsusaiga's hilt. I grabbed his sword arm tightly around the wrist. "Don't try _anything_, Inuyasha…don't risk your son's life…" I hissed over my shoulder at him. "_Promise_…" He wouldn't go that far, but his hands dropped back to his sides. Then I felt him shove something down the back of my jeans. I rather doubted he was goosing me, so tried not to react. Maybe it was a GPS unit or something. I squeezed his wrist, and walked forward, until I was partway between the two groups.

The leader of the ravens looked me over with a jaundiced expression. "This is the human bitch? She's a lot bigger than we expected…we'll need some heavy lift experts."

_Heavy lift…_! If I get one chance, and one only, _that _fucker is goin' down.

I was instantly pissed off, and that allowed me to forget to be scared…for a while. "Give me Tai. I want to make sure you assholes haven't hurt him."

"Hurt him? Oh, no, we didn't hurt him…just terrorized him a little…" The raven youkai leered evilly, but gestured his crony forward with the little boy in his arms. Tai's silvered dark hair spilled over the youkai's arm; his small face was turned inward. I could see his chest rising and falling; I couldn't believe he was asleep.

Okay, I'd been asleep not long before, but I wasn't being cuddled by a _raven._

I held out my arms, and Tai was deposited in them. He looked flushed, and I thought I smelled something harsh and medicinal on his clothing. I snapped my head up. "You drugged him!"

The leader shrugged. "We needed him to hold still; the brat's a real little devil…just like his old man." I glared at him before rubbing Tai's cheek gently with my finger. He mumbled a bit, burrowing his face into my shoulder.

"I'll carry him back to his father; detail some of your feather-brains to escort me. Inuyasha won't try anything. I've made him promise…"

"Ah, the loyalty of the dog-demons…gives me a warm fuzzy feeling all over…"

"At least they have honour, unlike some carrion-eaters I could mention…" I turned on my heel, and stomped the distance back to Inuyasha. I heard the rustle of feathers? Clothes? behind me, and knew I was being closely shadowed. Tai slightly woke up when I handed him into his father's arms.

"Da-aa-ddy…?"

"It's all right, Tai. Daddy is going to take you home to Mommy and Tsuki." I kissed his soft little cheek, and squeezed Inuyasha's arm, looking intently into his flaming amber eyes. "Tell Sesshomaru that…that I love him, and I'll see him again…_I promise_." Then I turned away and walked back across to the trio of ravens.

"If you bastards harm her, you are all as good as dead _twice_ over, do you hear me?"

"Oh, it won't be us that hurts the lady; the Mistress intends to keep that privilege for herself…" I was surrounded by a clutch of black feathered humanoid birds; they rapidly buckled a sort of climbing harness onto me, and then two of the biggest ravens I'd ever seen took the looped carrying straps into their claws, and I was jerked skyward.

It was like the most stomach-churning ride you can imagine at a theme park. No, I didn't do the technicolour hurl, but I did come _this _close. Once my internals settled down, it was kind of cool, watching the landscape unroll beneath me in the gathering dusk…as long as I didn't think about what was at the end of the trip. I thought I glimpsed the sea, way far off to the right.

It was also very, very cold at the altitude we travelled. I should have worn a heavier jacket. Like maybe a down parka. And snowmobile boots. And those big sheepskin-lined mitten things. With hot packs inside them.

I was half frozen by the time we arrived at our destination. I'm lousy with directions…just ask anyone who has ever driven with me…so I had absolutely no idea where we were. The only reason I knew the transfer point was north of the city was because I asked Inuyasha. The sea-waves I thought I saw before it became fully dark indicated that we were still travelling north of Tokyo, for whatever that was worth. I just knew it was really, really far from Sesshomaru, and anything that might be interested in protecting me.

I don't know what I was expecting. Possibly a dark creepy castle, or maybe an abandoned hotel. I know I wasn't expecting a townhouse complex in a suburb of an ordinary looking city. Obviously this complex was organized like the apartment building of the dog clan, and was full of youkai of some type, because absolutely no-one batted a hair, or called 911, when a flock of giant black ravens dropped in on the parking courtyard carrying a freezing cold and rather terrified human woman.

That would be me.

I was hustled into one of the buildings, and down a few corridors and staircases, until I realized I was in some sort of underground bunker. My shoes and jacket were forcibly removed, and I was shoved into what could pass for a conference room back in the Tomogawa corporate offices. It is very unsettling when evil looks so commonplace, like we were just going to sit down and discuss the sales figures for the last quarter. _Hey, boss-san, I forgot my highlighter…I'll just nip back to my desk and retrieve it, okay_?

I prowled the room, checking for…I don't know, it just gave me something to do, rather than quiver in a corner. I paced around it a few times, then slid down the wall into a corner the farthest from the door. The thing Inuyasha had shoved down my pants jabbed me in the hip; I pulled it out. No, it wasn't a GPS unit, which would have been practical; instead, it was a dagger in a sheath. As if I knew what to do with one of those, besides whittle marshmallow roasting sticks. It was extremely sharp; I slid it back into the sheath and shoved it down my pants on a more comfortable angle. I wondered how long it would be before something happened.

Not long, as it turned out. I thought they'd let me stew for a bit. There was a mild commotion in the corridor outside my room. The door swung open. There was nothing commonplace, but definitely something evil, about the woman who flounced in. I quickly stood up.

She was extremely beautiful, in an unsettling sort of way. Raven-black hair pulled back into a top-knot decorated with white feathers set off her pure-white skin, dark eyebrows and lashes, crimson-red eyes and pouty little mouth. She looked like one of those expensive porcelain geisha dolls kept in glass cases in the dining room of my house, except that her dainty mouth was twisted into a cruel smile, and those eyes were hard as ice stained with fresh blood.

I discovered that I can be quite poetic when I'm trying not to scream with fear.

_Kagura._

I knew that she wouldn't show me any mercy. Dear gods, I was dead meat.

She smiled wider, almost as if she could read my thoughts. "The Lady Rin…how nice to make your acquaintance again after all this time." With a rustle of silken robes, she swirled in closer to me. I straightened right up, and discovered she barely reached my chin. I did my best to glare icily at her; she laughed, a delighted, tinkling sound, as if I was a child that had done something to amuse her. "Oh my, you _do_ have his killing stare down pat already, don't you? And he's only had you for what, two days? You are a quick study, even for a reincarnation… As disappointed as I was not to have snatched you on Saturday night, this works out _so_ much better for my plans. He's had a chance to scent you, to know you…and according to my spies, bed you quite thoroughly…so his agony over your fate will play on his mind even more. Yes, a much more satisfying triumph…"

_Spies_? _Shit_…

My voice was much steadier than I hoped. "Why do you hate him so, Kagura?"

She sniffed a bit, and waved her hand dismissively. "At first it was because he chose your predecessor over me…I'll never know why; she was a silly little peasant brat… but over time, it progressed into a challenge, of sorts, to keep raising his hackles. I guess you could say I was _bored._"

"_Bored_! You malevolent bi… you kidnap children, kill people… all because you're _bored?_"

Kagure flipped her fan around in her white fingers. "When you live as long as we demons do, you have to find _something_ to pass the time… Sesshomaru has been a special project of mine for about the last, oh, three hundred years? He makes such an obvious target… he reacts so spectacularly to my teasing."

I stopped myself, with great effort, from giving my opinion of her, and to not react to her 'teasing' myself. This was gonna be hard… Kagura cocked her head to the side, gently tapping her fan against her chin while she assessed me. Long fingers flashed out and she gripped my jaw firmly while tilting my face down towards her; she studied my eyes, then twisted my head to look at my tightly-braided hair. Finally she released me and stepped back, an odd look on her face.

"Sesshomaru's tastes are certainly unusual. Not only are you as human as the first Rin, but you are also as much of a half-breed as his charming brother."

_Half-breed?_

"Just what the hell do you mean by that?"

Kagura closed her eyes for a moment, as if giving my question due thought. I could see her smiling, so I knew that she was pleased to get a rise out of me. "My spies said you were not of pure Japanese descent…that is painfully obvious. Therefore, you are a half-breed…it will be doing a service to destroy you. Pure demonic blood shouldn't be diluted with _trash_."

I'll be damned. The witch was a _racist._ I'd dealt with her kind of bully before, on the playground, on the campus, and I'd won handily every time, even if it was a fistfight…my resolve started to go up a notch or two. I might end up dead, but I'd go down fighting, as befitted the granddaughter of a Marine and the daughter of an Airborne veteran…and the mate of Sesshomaru. _Half-breed_ my ass! I'd been the underdog before; I'd show her what I was made of.

I folded my arms, blanked my face, and stared down my tormentor. She wasn't going to get any more easy rises out of me. Sensing my change of mood, she laughed lightly and moved away, towards the door. "Your _danna_ will, of course, be planning a rescue attempt…however, it is doomed to failure, as of course, his trackers are land-bound. General Tsume's wing was led off by course by a decoy, and quite successfully, too. We won't keep you long, just enough to make him quite frantic. In the meantime, there's someone who wants to spend some time with you…I'm _sure_ you'll enjoy his attentions…"

She gestured to the door, and a demon walked in. I felt a fist grab my guts and squeeze them into a cold pit in my stomach.

_Moto._

He slithered a little closer and stopped, his cold black eyes sliding up and down my body in a manner that gave me no illusions about his intentions. Kagura tapped him on the arm with her fan. "Now remember, Moto…do not damage her too much. We need her alive, so no disembowelment or dismemberment, all right? Oh, and conscious is important…apparently she screams very passionately for the right lover." She clapped her hands. "I know! We could send Sesshomaru a recording if you do it right. How he'd enjoy that to remember her by…"

She slid out the door behind him, and it swung shut with a definite 'click'. Moto regarded me with those dead, creepy eyes for a moment longer, then stepped to the corner, dropped his sword, and began to take off his hakama. I was frozen in horror at what he was going to do, and then cold fury took the place of cold fear. I decided that I _wasn't_ going to be raped in _this _place by _that _piece of shit.

I'd rather die first.

No, I'd rather kill him instead.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: All I possibly own is the storyline…Takahashi-sama owns the characters!

**A/N**: In response to a query from Anon E. Mus…the Japanese dog demon etiquette that Rin tripped over is cobbled together from interviewing my girlfriend who lived in Japan for two years, books like Memoirs of a Geisha, observing canine hierarchies at the off-leash park … and a large dose of imagination.

There is an attempted rape in the first few _paragraphs_ of this chapter; if that kind of situation really bothers you, skip 'em… keep in mind I said 'attempted'…some gory bits, too.

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**Exchanged: Part Six**

**Hostage**

Moto finished removing the clothes on the lower half of his body, then turned to me with a very predatory smirk. I glared right back, going into a crouch. I was going to fight back. To hell with the 'don't struggle' approach advocated by the self-defence instruction we'd received on campus. Kagura said he couldn't kill me, and I obviously couldn't escape the room, so my only choice was to try for the miracle shot. He was a demon…at least a hundred times faster and stronger than me, so I had nothing to lose.

My chances? Slim to nil, and Slim was out of town…and took his lucky rabbit's foot with him.

A pure, icy anger slid through my body, and I cracked my knuckles, shooting him a look that had sent more than a few opponents on the playground back a step. Unfortunately for me, Moto wasn't a human.

He was so damn fast he wasn't even a blur. _Shi…_.

He slammed me up against the wall, and used his claws to slice off my jeans and panties, tearing them away and leaving long, stinging shallow cuts down my thighs. The tough denim got hung up on his fingers and distracted him for a split second; I kneed him in the jaw, and then shoved him hard in the chest. It was just enough to knock him slightly away from me; I dove for the opposite corner. The bastard started laughing at me, a hard, mocking sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He was pinching the dagger that had been inside my pants between his claw tips and laughing fit to bust.

He was still laughing when I hacked the razor-sharp sword through his neck.

Time stopped, then restarted. The blade stuck in something, there was a horrible grinding sound, and then sliced through.

It was _messy_.

Moto's head, mouth gaping and black eyes staring, bounced and rolled. His body hung in the air for a moment, then crashed to the floor, blood spurting _everywhere_. I staggered backward, horrified, until I crashed up against the wall, dropping the bloodied sword nearly on my foot. I stayed there, staring at the blood, my brain in lock-down. The icy fury melted and my stomach turned over. Then I collapsed to my knees and retched violently, colourfully and repeatedly.

I wondered, vaguely, if I'd ever get the chance to tell General Tsume that I'd got in my one lucky shot, and that it had _really_ counted.

I'd killed…_killed _Moto. It felt like a million years later, but Josh was avenged.

I was a _killer_. Part of my brain got up and ran away from me, screaming.

After more than a few minutes of bile-tinged dry heaves, the metallic taste of blood in my nostrils and mouth, I crawled away from the gore spreading across the cement and into the corner, wiping tears and saliva from my face with a shaking hand. When my chest stopped hurting, I tried to think rationally.

Summary of current situation. Half-naked and bleeding. In a locked room with a very dead body. Someone was bound to not be happy with me. In possession of an extremely sharp sword. Could kill myself and deny Kagura the pleasure. Could try my luck again with the next raven in line. Probably not a good idea, as I felt I'd stretched it by taking that desperate swing at Moto, but committing suicide was not appealing either.

I was _not_ going to die in this place. I was getting out, somehow.

My attention was drawn to the pile of Moto's clothes in the corner. I know, I know, dressing in the dead's clothing is probably inviting some kind of karmic retaliation, but he wasn't going to be asking for them back any time soon, and I sure as hell wasn't going to face whatever was coming next with my private bits on view. Fortunately for me, hakama are pretty much one-size-fits-all, and Moto had been a tall bastard.

Getting dressed was first priority. I picked up the sword very gingerly, and wiped most of the blood off it with Moto's underwear, dropping them over his dead face when I was done. I pulled off my two remaining layers, and used the sword to cut strips off the t-shirt and tied them snugly around my legs, more to keep the cuts closed than anything, as they had pretty much stopped bleeding already. I put what was left of my t-shirt back on, then Sesshomaru's dress shirt, and tucked everything into the hakama and tied up the strings tightly, double-knotting them despite severely shaking hands. Then, I stepped over the blood and vomit, and took up a position against the rear wall, sitting cross-legged, the sword balanced across my thighs, and waited. I didn't know how to use the thing, but its solid weight made me feel better, and reminded me of Sesshomaru. The dagger was somewhere under Moto's body; I decided against trying to retrieve it. It had done its job to protect me, just not exactly in the way I'm sure Inuyasha had hoped.

While I sat there, trying to compose myself, my eyes were drawn to the darkening pool of blood that crept sluggishly about, forming little puddles and rivulets as it eddied around the floor. Was I proud of what I'd done? No. …_Yes._ This bastard was out to dishonour and humiliate me, simply because he _could._ How many times have women around the world been subjected to this sort of _shit_? His blood was _my_ badge of survival. _Bastard_. I wondered how long he had been planning this…probably the first moment he learned that Sesshomaru believed that I was Rin's reincarnation.

After what felt like an eternity, the door opened. Kagura whisked in. "Moto, aren't you done yet? ...oh, _my_…_this _was unexpected." She paused, taking in the blood and the detached body parts, and then turned her attention to me. I curled my lip at her, not moving from my seated position, but gripping the sword hilt tightly. She seemed…amused? Great. Always happy to provide free entertainment.

Kagura smiled widely, and bent down to dabble a slim finger in the puddle of blood closest to her feet. She popped the bloody digit into her mouth, sucked, and then pulled a face. "As sour on the inside as he was on the outside…to be expected, really. Well, my lady, you've definitely earned the right to remain unmolested while in our company…so long as you leave the sword here."

I slid up the wall to standing, never taking my eyes off her. I balanced the sword on its tip for a moment, before tossing it away from both of us. She nodded approvingly, her eyes appraising.

"I underestimated you, Sesshomaru's bitch. I will not make that mistake twice, but I will also not torment you further. You _do_ have some echoes of the Rin I killed at Nagasaki… despite being a mongrel." As Kagura spoke, four large armoured men came into the room and stood silently, their beady eyes darting from Moto's body to me and back again. "Take the Lady Rin to another holding cell…do not offer her any insult. Clean this _garbage_ up."

I debated, briefly, considering making them come for me, but then decided to go out with my head held high. I found myself down the hall, in another identical room. The guards left me, and the door locked with finality. I walked across to the far wall, collapsed and rolled myself up in a ball. I was exhausted, trembling, and hoped I could trust Kagura to keep her word about not letting anyone else bother me. I quickly fell asleep, and fortunately, I did not dream.

Snapping awake, I had a moment of total disorientation when I heard the door slide open. I twisted to my feet, and crouched while trying to clear my foggy brain. A tray was deposited, and a bucket with a box of tissues was shoved into the room before the door closed again. I waited a few minutes, then stealthily approached. The tray held a number of bowls and plates, and from the smell of disinfectant, I guessed the bucket was my elegant porta-potty. I took the tray back across the room with me, and inspected the offerings of Kagura's kitchen. Fairly basic; miso soup, rice, fish, pickles, and a jug of water on the side. It must be morning, if this was any indication. For a moment, I hesitated, wondering if the food was drugged or poisoned, then reasoned that Kagura would want me conscious and screaming for whatever torment she had planned for me.

I ate everything, and wouldn't have minded a bit more, since I hadn't really eaten anything since the previous morning, during the raven attack on the apartment. I twirled the empty soup bowl across the floor like a top while I contemplated the events of the last twenty-four hours. It was now Tuesday. I wondered how Tai was, and imagined the scene when he was reunited with his mother and sister. That gave me a few warm fuzzies, and then I depressed myself wondering if I'd ever see them again. Then I really bummed myself out thinking about my family. Who would let them know if I died? Wouldn't _that_ be a phone call…would Sesshomaru make it? I wondered how he would introduce himself to my parents.

Hello, this is your demon-in-law, and I have some unfortunate news…

I couldn't help but giggle at that macabre thought. My mom would be thunderstruck by the 'in-law' reference, never mind the really _bad_ part of the news; I hoped dad wouldn't have a heart attack. And to think my biggest concern yesterday was telling them they were maybe, possibly going to be grandparents…

I finished eating, visited the little-girl's bucket, used some water from the jug and a couple of tissues to wipe my face and neck, and then sat up against the wall to await developments. I napped a bit, paced a bit, and then attempted some Pilates moves. Ooooh, man, had I stiffened up since my last class!

After a rather nice sushi lunch, I sat cross-legged against the wall, and tried a little meditation. My mind readily cleared, probably because I was tired of being scared out of my wits, and your brain can only do so much of the screaming and gibbering thing before it has to have a lie-down. I wondered if I could find any more of the other Rin's memories. The last couple of times, she had come, unbidden, to me. This time, I wanted to go to her…I think.

Slowly, I searched the mental corners and closets of my mind, sneezing at the dust and cobwebs in some spots, like where my high school physics was stashed. I avoided the locked broom closet where I'd stuffed my misgivings over telling my mother I'd gone off and mated a dog demon that I barely knew, and went deeper into the darker corridors where I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go.

When I found what I was looking for, would I still be myself, or would I be someone else, who knew how to handle all the etiquette at court, who to bow to, who not to pour tea for, and where Sesshomaru was ticklish?

I hoped the other Rin would be willing to share, if she had any insights that might save my life…but in exchange, I didn't really want to _become_ her.

Just like in a cheap novel, a wisp of vapour caught my internal eye; I followed it down a dusty side hallway. My brain needed a thorough spring cleaning. Did I really need to keep my philosophy prof's phone number for homework help?… the vapour became brighter, and warmer, finally glowing like a flame, hovering before a door that showed some signs of recently being opened after a very long time. Was this it? My mental self took a deep breath (lots of wasabi in the sushi at lunch keeps your sinuses clear), pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

Like a former president claimed, I've never inhaled _anything_ in my life, but _that _was one hell of a trip.

Sensations curled around me, and emotions coiled in over them to cocoon me completely in a multicoloured whirl, but I wasn't afraid. Joy, happiness,_ love_ anchored into my soul, and then I knew. She _was_ me, but only a part of who I now was. She was wrapping around and opening my heart and mind to what she knew and had experienced for the five hundred years she had been with Sesshomaru.

The few disjointed images that had hit me on Sunday night were back, but now as a part of the complete script of her life, uncoiling like a strip of film out of the background. She showed me who she had been before she met him, a little girl whose life had been destroyed once by bandits and again by wolves. I experienced the icy slash of the Tenseiga that had restored her to life, and brought her to Sesshomaru's side. As she grew and matured, I felt love replace the awe, until one fateful day he shattered the iron fetters of his resolve and took her as his mate. Their lives together were eventful, solemn in public and deeply loving in private. The darkness that washed over me evoked her despair when the pup she carried died in the womb, and I felt her pain and sadness as she recovered from the depression that followed. I now knew why the news of Tai's kidnapping had affected me so deeply yesterday morning.

The love she felt for Sesshomaru was so intense, it seared my soul.

Between glimpses of court life, and private moments, I saw battle scenes of indescribable destruction, seeming acres of devastation, but what really caught my attention was the fact that she was carrying a spear and standing at Sesshomaru's side in the thick of it, taking part in the defence of their lands, their clan.

Her hand had guided me when I killed Moto, I was suddenly sure of it. I've never swung anything more lethal than a baseball bat, and I certainly wasn't trying to kill anybody at home plate when I did it. Okay, I've taken out a couple of pitchers with a line drive, but I didn't _mean_ to. Well, except for that asshole Sanderson kid in ninth grade…

Now, if only she was like Yoda and could turn me into a light-sabre equipped female version of Luke Skywalker, complete with the Force. _That_ would improve my chances…

The internal movie-cum-head-trip ended with the same brilliant flash of light and wave of intense heat I experienced just before Sesshomaru rocked my world… and then from the following blackness I saw a thin line of images coil up… images of my _grandmother's_ life. The mental refrigerator light bulb flickered on. I _got_ it.

My _grandmother_ had been the reincarnation. She was absolutely _identical_ to the original Rin. No wonder she'd been attracted to Grandpa, what with his white-blond hair, pale skin and height.

Another ribbon wound up to coil alongside my grandmother's. It was _my_ life, but the early memories were light, like over-exposed film. There was my first bike…and first bike riding accident. Our black Lab puppy. My best friend Caitlyn and I playing dress-up. My first paper route. Protecting my little brother from a bully in the vacant lot after school. Familiar people, things and events slid by in palest hues. Abruptly, the colours became as deep as my grandmother's memories; the two strands melded at the point where the colours intensified.

_My_ memories took over. I was thirteen.

My grandmother had died at age fifty, of a nasty form of cancer. We kept her at home, instead of putting her in palliative care, and my mother and I looked after her. She became thinner and her smooth skin more papery every day, until the afternoon that she passed. Dad was at work and Mom was out picking up Kai from soccer; I was downstairs, cutting vegetables for dinner. I was humming along with Alanis Morissette on the radio when I felt _something_ warm twine around me, a breeze-like but somehow solid embrace. Instantly, I _knew _something had happened. I had dropped the carrot and raced upstairs, shouting, bruising myself on her doorframe before tumbling to a stop. The same warm presence wrapped around me, held me and seemed to burrow inside me; I knew Grandma was gone, but I wasn't alone. I wasn't _afraid._ I closed her eyes, arranged her hands over the blanket, and sat with her in the gathering darkness until my family came home.

That must have been when Rin's soul sub-let herself some space within me. Can't say I exactly remember anything X-Files-ish to indicate my 'possession' by her, but the fact was, she hadn't bunked off to find another newborn host. I wasn't _exactly_ a reincarnation, but I guess I was the next best thing. My memories and body became hers. Puberty was particularly rough for me…maybe it was our souls melding that had caused so much angst. I mean, she'd already been there, done that…

The ribbons hovered in front of me, the now-single strand of mine and my grandmother's joined by Rin's. Slowly, they curved together and twined around each other, winding together into a shimmering cord that coiled off into the darkness. I understood. Our combined strengths would protect us – me – in the future. She and I were one; that was why I'd fallen so hard and fast for Sesshomaru, why he felt so familiar.

Not familiar enough, obviously. She was horrified when I blew Sesshomaru off that first time in Asakusa.

I had called Sesshomaru 'my love' before I left his side, but now I really understood that I _loved_ him as intensely as she had. I wasn't sure how much of that emotion was originally hers, but I accepted it completely as being now all mine. Hopefully I'd get the chance to tell him that again, and soon…

I was definitely still me, but now I had a greater depth of memory than any twenty-three year old had a right to. I could call on centuries of experiences. The key to my survival was there, as I had escaped Kagura before, and I doubted that the wind witch would be able to swing a hydrogen bomb right now.

I was going to survive. It would be my little private joke on Kagura, a few times over. _And_ I didn't have to worry about becoming one of those possessed humans on 'Stargate', who had the creature inside come out and do the talking at pertinent moments.

I became aware of something hard and cold pressing against the side of my head. Blinking intently, I realized I'd toppled over, as my cheek was on the concrete floor. I sat up slowly, checking myself over carefully, making sure that everything was still where it belonged.

Dinner arrived shortly thereafter with several side dishes, including a bit of tempura. I got the feeling that this last was for the benefit of the condemned. The garnishes were rather artistic for an ordinary meal. Why else would anyone bother to carve a delicately realistic radish rose for a prisoner?

There was another wait of a few hours, but I didn't mind so much. I had quite a bit to think about. Then came the unmistakeable tread of heavily-shod feet sounding outside the walls of my room. The door clicked open, and six soldiers came in, followed by Kagura. Her red eyes sparkled with malice; I could tell she was particularly pleased with herself over something.

"Well, Lady Rin, the final moves are ready to be played. How was your meal?"

"Good, although the prawns were a little tough…"

"I'll mention it to the cook…your _danna_ has accepted the terms of engagement for tonight…I can hardly wait to watch."

One of the men stepped forward, holding out a bundle of white cloth. I eyed him, and he tossed it to me. I shook it out. It was a long white kimono. "Put that on, Lady Rin. I want your mate to be able to see you clearly." After shooting her a look, I obeyed reluctantly. Four of the soldiers quickly surrounded me, and while two pinned my arms to my sides with the thick cloth, the other two began winding a thin cord around me, starting at my ankles. No matter how much I struggled and cursed, I was bound up neatly like a giant white grub. Kagura was plainly amused. "Cease fussing, Lady Rin…I'd hate to have you faint from lack of circulation because we had to tie your bonds too tight to hold you still."

My glare should have scorched her porcelain complexion; she just smiled sweetly. I was braced upright. Kagura cocked her head on one side, and then stepped rapidly towards me. Using her long fingers, she quickly undid the bun and then untangled the braid holding my hair, almost caressing the brown, red and gold curls around my face and over my shoulders. "Very nice…Sesshomaru will undoubtedly appreciate my display efforts."

I was trying to think up a suitable reply, when a loud and violent commotion in the corridor erupted. Kagura jerked her head; the six soldiers protectively surrounded me, drawing their weapons.

"Damn it! Where are you, Kagura! I want an explanation, bitch!" A tall, dark and powerfully handsome man erupted through the door, his intense blue eyes blazing, anger practically pouring off him in visible waves. He was dressed in armour and furs…and was that a tail swishing behind him?

Kagura kept herself between me and the new arrival. I noticed that her fan was slightly unfurled, and she was not looking quite so pleased, although her voice was as mocking as ever. "Did you have a question, Koga?"

He stormed closer to her. "I was told that you had the brat in your custody, and I want to know why he wasn't handed over to me!"

Kagura waved her fan at him, making sure he noticed that it was open. "Your petty desire for reproducing yourself did not fit into my wider scheme. I used the boy to bargain for a greater prize that meant more to my plans. Allow me to introduce you to Lord Sesshomaru's mate, the reincarnated Lady Rin." She moved aside, letting him get a good look at me.

Koga…wasn't he the wolf-demon that had been in love with Kagome a few centuries ago?

He stopped, and stared at me intently. I sneered back; he arched an eyebrow, and a smirk began creeping across his face. The soldiers in front of me didn't let him get too close as he stalked forward. He stuck his head over their shoulders, and sniffed deeply a few times. Then he threw back his head and laughed, a nasty, dark sound.

"I've got to hand it to you, Kagura. The bitch is carrying his pup. That will really finish the arrogant dog-bastard off…" and Koga began laughing again. I didn't like the look on Kagura's face; it was a mixture of pure delight and speculative evil. If my hands hadn't been tied so tightly, I would have wrapped them protectively over my belly. I had a _very _bad feeling about this.

"You're absolutely sure, Koga? Oh my, that will make it especially entertaining this evening…now I truly can't wait to meet dear Lord Sesshomaru. How could I let him know about her, ahem, _delicate condition_, without letting him get close enough to rescue her?"

"Spill a little of her blood, and fan it towards him; his nose will pick it up."

Kagura could only be described as gleeful; I wouldn't have been surprised to see her break out into a little dance. Koga sobered and looked incredibly dangerous. "Don't you dare interfere in my part of this little party tonight, wind bitch."

She rolled her eyes. "If you manage to get close enough to even spit at Inuyasha, I'll congratulate you, Koga. I rather doubt you'll be able to kill him. You just haven't been as fast since you lost all access to Jewel shards…"

"If I'd killed his boy in front of his eyes, what do you think that would have done to his will to fight?"

"I'd say it would increase your chances of being delivered by 'wind scar' straight into the seventh hell, wolf…and Kagome is still not going to change her mind."

Koga's grin was evil and twisted. "If I kill off her mate and cubs, then she won't have any choice in who mates her next."

I shivered at the dark lust in his voice. This guy made Kagura look appealing by comparison… Koga strode out the door, pausing to call over his shoulder. "We'll be in position to strike at three hours past moonrise, Kagura…make sure you follow through in your side of the plans, _or else_."

Kagura did not look noticeably impressed by the wolf-demon's threat. She flicked her fan closed and it disappeared up into her sleeve. She caught my eye. "Damned wolf…thick as a plank, but I admire his persistence… it is time to go."

I was slung across the shoulders of two of the men like a rolled-up carpet, and carried up out of the bunker complex and into the parking courtyard. I caught my breath. Dozens and dozens of ravens, in various stages of transformation, were clustered in the space. A brilliant sunset streaked the sky with colour, and gave the dark iridescent feathers a warmer tinge. I was propped upright and a harness made of thick leather straps attached to a sort of rigid triangular hang-gliding frame was strapped firmly around me from chest to knee. Kagura made sure that my hair could fly free around me, then gestured.

With a great surging lurch that left my stomach somewhere on the ground, I was swung up into the air. The parking courtyard rapidly dwindled to the size of a postage stamp as powerful wings beat upwards. I could see a black spiral that could only be Kagura's troops rising after us. Then I closed my eyes and tried not to vomit up my dinner as the ground rushed past us. The prawns had been very good, actually, and it would be a shame to waste them…

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ**

**Bait**

We seemed to be airborne for a very long time, as the massive raven youkai carrying me winged powerfully away from the setting sun. When we seemed to start circling a particular spot, I looked carefully around.

We were far out over the ocean, the dark sea surging far below us, the white caps gilded by the last rays of light. I had a very definite jolt of panic. Ravens were usually only able to fly by day…wouldn't we crash when they became disoriented in the dark? I had my answer very quickly, when an enormous full moon began to slide up over the eastern horizon. It would be bright enough to fly by.

Kagura twirled to a stop in front of me, riding on a large white feather, her red eyes glowing in the dusk. "Lovely night for a battle, don't you think, Lady Rin? Full moonlight, so that Lord Sesshomaru doesn't miss a thing…ah, here he comes now…"

I suppressed a scream of joy at the distant sight of a glowing ball of light approaching us very rapidly, faster than even the demonic raven carrying me had been able to move. _Sesshomaru_… the glow resolved itself into my Big Dog, wearing his impeccable white armoured outfit, his silver hair swirling around him. From across the wide gap between us, filling rapidly with ravens, our eyes met. He raised a gleaming sword in salute; I bowed my head in acknowledgement.

Kagura spun close to me, her fan out. "Lord Sesshomaru! I must offer you congratulations!" She paused for dramatic effect; I could see him narrow his reddened eyes. "Your lovely mate is carrying your heir…I offer you proof." She drove the sharp tip of her fan between the bindings, through the layers of fabric, and into my upper arm until my blood stained the white fabric. I bit my lip and whimpered; my stomach flipped over and I began to shiver. Kagura didn't seem to notice my reaction; she opened her fan and sent a gust in Sesshomaru's direction.

He shuddered, and then I saw a peculiar glow halo around him. Beside me, Kagura laughed. "Excellent…his battle-rage will drive him to make mistakes…" She spun away and disappeared among her troops. I fastened my eyes on Sesshomaru. I could dimly see bird-like shapes winging their way across the sky to surround him, and then the battle was joined.

I suddenly realized why we were so far out to sea. This was a battle of no quarter; any birds that fell injured were dead and not recoverable. If we were away from land, then Inuyasha couldn't participate, as he couldn't fly; therefore, the dog demon's side was split in half. Divide and conquer… Koga could then strike. Kagura's spies would probably tell him where our land defences were weak. I hoped that Tai and Tsuki were safe, and Koga couldn't get at them.

The raven carrying me circled away from the edge of the battle, not so close that I could see any of it, which was probably a very good thing. I looked way, way down to the oily black waves. We were up so high that the water looked like crinkled blackened foil, the moonlight silvering the wave tops.

The little refrigerator light bulb went off again in my brain. I figured out why we were so high, and nearly lost my dinner anyways. If I was dropped from this height, the water's surface would be like solid cement. I would die on impact, and the weight of the tightly-bundled robe and hanging framework would pull me under so quickly that Sesshomaru wouldn't be able to reach me in time to use the Tenseiga. Kagura intended for my beloved to see the whole spectacle, try to reach me, and fail miserably in the attempt. _Bitch_. Inventive, nasty, definitely evil, and totally a bitch. Hope I'd have a chance to repay her.

We were completing another leisurely circle when, from the far side of the swirling melee, I saw a bolt of light arc up over the aerial battlefield like a signal flare, and come straight for us. It was Sesshomaru.

The raven let me go, and I plummeted down towards the sea.

Apparently at some point of a fall from a great height, your body ceases to accelerate. That bit of wisdom popped into my head from somewhere. I was waiting for my life to pass before my eyes, but apparently, my personal video was stuck on 'pause'.

So close to the water's surface that salt spray struck my face, the hanging frame was snagged by a passing winged body. My guts protested the sudden direction change again, but it was only slightly more jarring than Saturday night when Inuyasha fielded me from the Asakusa bridge. We were skimming along, barely cresting the waves, when I risked a look upwards to see who was now hauling my ass around.

Enormous leathery scalloped wings stretched between thin bones flapped rapidly and silently, but the flight wasn't smooth. A dark brown furry body. Very large cabbage-leaf ears and a leaf-shaped nose. While I was gaping, the head twisted down to regard me with bright beady eyes, and a mouth full of sharp, needle-like teeth opened in a ghastly caricature of a smile. It was a giant bat. It probably thought it had scored the jackpot, catching the giant white worm for dinner.

I was mentally debating the merits of either screaming hysterically or fainting dead away, when a voice, tortured by non-human vocal cords straining to create human speech, came down to me.

"Do not fear, Lady Rin, we will take you to safety."

Dropped by a raven youkai and rescued by a bat youkai. Could it get any better? Well, if the bat turned out to be a _vampire_, things could get very messy…for me, that is. Did Japan have any vampire bats?

Sooner than I thought likely, we passed over the shore and headed inland. The sea-scent was replaced by green smells. After a few more minutes of hugging the rolling sea-coast terrain, the bat carrying me abruptly banked and swooped both of us into the large black mouth of a cavern. He or she backed wing, and dropped me very gently onto a rocky surface. I landed on my side, and couldn't move anyways. I laid my cheek against the cold rock and hoped it would be over soon.

"Lady Rin! Hold on…we'll cut you free…" Hands went to work on the straps holding the frame and a great weight was gone when it was tossed aside with a clatter. I was gently rolled up to sitting, and braced against a broad chest. I cautiously peered up at the face, but it was too dark for me to see. The person holding me wasn't having any trouble, and neither was the other person cutting the binding cord from my legs.

"W-who are you?" My voice sounded high-pitched, even to me. I detected a flinch.

"Allies of Lord Sesshomaru, my lady…here, we'll set a light" A low-power flashlight was turned on and shielded from the cave mouth. The man working on the bindings around my legs smiled quickly at me before returning to his job. My jaw hit my collarbone, and I quickly swivelled my head around to look up at the owner of the chest I was leaning against.

"D-Dai-kun? J-Jin-kun! Wha…how…where…" My former officemates, and Dragon Ball Z anime boys, chuckled at my expression.

"We thought you might be a little surprised to see us, Lady Rin…but that's why we were entrusted with your rescue, because you do know us." Dai shifted my head to his other shoulder, so he could begin cutting the cording around my upper body.

"I didn't know you could turn into giant bats!" I spluttered.

Jin looked rather offended. "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but I'm not a lowly flying mouse."

Dai snorted gently. "You'll have to excuse him, my lady…these uncouth owls really don't have any manners to speak of; what do you expect of a demon that eats vermin like mice and rats? You are what you eat…"

"At least I don't eat _bugs_!" I had the feeling that this was an on-going byplay between these two. The last cord was cut and Jin was offering me some water from a canteen when an enormous presence swooped silently into the cavern and onto our ledge. If I wasn't so stiff that I couldn't move, I would have shrieked and dove for the floor. I settled for the shriek. The newcomer flinched, blinking its huge yellow eyes.

Before my eyes, the giant silhouette shimmered, shrank, and became…General Tsume. He was an owl youkai. A freaking _huge_ owl youkai. I'm not an orthinologist, so don't ask me what kind of owl he was. Extremely large and brown, with big honkin' talons and a nasty beak. He dropped to one knee in front of me and bowed his head.

"Well met by moonlight, Lady Rin." Two other, smaller owls slipped into the cavern and waited. General Tsume took my hand and kissed it. "You have no idea how happy I am that you live, my lady. Lord Sesshomaru was not… _himself_… for this past day…we now have a real chance of victory." He turned to the two newly arrived owls, who had not assumed their humanoid forms. "Get word immediately to Lord Sesshomaru that his lady is safe, and she will wait for him with Lord Inuyasha and Lady Kagome." The two bowed their heads and were gone. He turned back to me.

"We must remove you from this shroud and dress your wound, Lady Rin…time is of the essence. I must return to Lord Sesshomaru's side to aid him in this battle." He helped me to my feet, and peeled off the bloodstained white kimono. I undid Sesshomaru's shirt and pulled it off my shoulder. The sleeve of my t-shirt was already short, so he just shoved it up and secured a gauze pad with a few wraps of bandage over the cut from Kagura's fan. I was re-doing up the shirt buttons when the general peered intently at me. I could see his nostrils flaring. "My lady…there is a distinct blood-scent on you…to whom does it belong?"

"Thanks for the advice yesterday, General. It belongs to Moto…I - I killed him."

There was new respect in his yellow eyes as he assessed me in the weak light, nodding his head thoughtfully. "Excellent work, Lady Rin. That evil creature was responsible for the deaths of many fine youkai…you shall be honoured."

I ducked my head. "It was either kill him or be _dis_honoured, General." His thick eyebrows arched, but he said nothing else.

Jin rummaged briefly outside the pale light of the flashlight, and handed me a thick black leather jacket and something that resembled a SWAT team vest, or at least its close cousin. Dai helped me into the jacket, and then squeezed me into the vest, doing up the buckles for me. Jin then passed over a pair of heavy leather boots. I was amazed that these actually fit, more or less. Straps snugged them around my ankles and calves, so they couldn't fall off.

Then I turned again to the owl youkai. "General Tsume, Kagura told me that she has spies living among us in the apartment building…"

His face became very grim. "We captured them, my lady, but not before they had done their damage."

My voice was very small and quiet. "Who was it?"

"Lady Kagetsu and her maid." Well, I wasn't really surprised. I remembered how Lady Kagetsu had pulled her skirts away when Kagome and Mrs. Higurashi had arrived on Monday, and how she had been sent out of the room when Inuyasha told of the attack on the shrine. "They have been executed. My lady wife carried out the sentence."

_That_ got my attention, but I chose not to inquire further. Obviously youkai don't mess around with Death Row appeals. "Are you also aware that the wolf-demon Koga is planning an attack on the land forces tonight?" His eyes grew very large and round; owl-eyed, in fact.

"How do you know this, my lady?"

"Koga showed up at Kagura's compound just before we took off, and reminded her that he would strike three hours after moonrise, and his targets are the children and Inuyasha."

General Tsume sighed. "That idiot wolf never gives up… it is now two hours past…you must go and warn Lord Inuyasha. We knew something was going to happen on land as well, but we didn't know the particulars. Jin, you will carry Lady Rin, and Dai, please supply air cover. Go now, and stop for nothing." He transformed, and disappeared into the night sky.

I was about to ask if I should be strapped back into the hanging frame, when Jin turned his back to me and re-transformed into a large owl. He crouched, and looked over his wing at me, and clacked his beak. I stepped up to him, hesitated a moment, then gripped the point where the wing joined his body, and lay against his back. Dai secured me with a criss-cross strap passing around Jin's body and clipping to loops on my vest. Then Jin paused for a moment, gathering himself, and we sprang into the air, his huge wings beating strongly but nearly soundlessly for take-off.

I much preferred flying on Jin's back to being carried trussed up by a raven or a bat, no offence to present company intended. Our flight was silent; Dai's shadow danced across us as he watched the sky above and somehow managed to keep up with Jin's powerful wing beats. By the light of the full moon, I watched the terrain change as we sped inland. Small cities, ribbons of highway, silvered lakes and rivers all looked a tad unreal. It was cold; I buried my hands in his warm feathers to keep them from going numb.

We came to a place that resembled the exchange point where I'd handed myself over for Tai; a desolate rocky plain with a slight rise in the middle. I could see hundreds of dark shapes scattered over the near side, dark shapes that were moving. I thought Jin would do a fly-over, but instead he landed on the edge of the crowd. Wondering, I stuck tight to him, and waited.

We had landed close to an enormous pack of dogs. Black dogs, brown dogs, blond dogs, white dogs, red dogs, spotted dogs, brindled dogs…all large, and all of an unrecognizable breed. Sort of like really huge, shaggy Akitas for the most part. Really huge, as in minimum ten feet tall at the shoulder. Jin barely looked over their backs. Dai landed behind me, and helped unclip me from the strap. Once Jin had transformed, they stood at attention on either side of me.

A large black shaggy dog separated itself from the rest of the pack and came towards us, going down on its front paws in front of me. It resolved itself into a woman on bended knee. I yelped and ran forward to grab her hand.

"_Kazu-chan_!"

My Halo-playing, beer-drinking buddy grinned sheepishly at me from under her unruly dark bangs as she stood up. "Evenin', Lady Rin. May I escort you to Lord Inuyasha and Lady Kagome?"

Instead of complying, I fisted my hands on my hips. "All right, is there anybody _else_ I already know who has a youkai alter-ego?"

"Just me, ma'am." A rough voice spoke up from the edge of the crowd; there was a rapid rearrangement of silhouette, and Seiji ambled over.

I looked them all over. "I take it that Hiromi, Naoko and Mariko are not youkai, then?" They shook their heads. "Well, take us to your leader, Kazu-chan." The four of them acquired weaponry as we walked through the dog army, up the incline towards the top, where I thought I could discern something that was already silver, as opposed to silvered by the moonlight.

We weren't half way there, when I stumbled over my feet. I was abruptly light-headed and felt nauseous. Dai caught me; Kazu peered up at my white face. "My lady, let me carry you. You should not have so much excitement in your condition."

My _condition_? Oh, right…as in heir-of-the-dog… "Is the scent that obvious?" I asked quietly. She and Seiji nodded vigorously. "No offence, Kazu-chan, but surely you don't intend to piggyback me? I'm still larger than you." She chuckled, and stepped away from me, then transformed back into her large canine form. She crouched down, and woofed softly at me. I put my hand on her massive shoulder and looked her in the eye. "Are you sure, Kazu-chan? I mean, I really appreciate the gesture, but I'm not your master or anything."

"It is an honour to carry the Lady of the Western Lands, I assure you." Seiji was beside me and bent with cupped hands to boost me up onto Kazu's back. I grabbed a couple of handfuls of fur on her shoulders to steady myself as she carefully rose to her feet, the three boys fell into position on either side and in front, and we headed for the top of the hill, where I hoped Inuyasha and Kagome were waiting.

I'd been abducted, tormented, assaulted, trussed, rescued and then dropped smack into the middle of a demonic war zone. Lara Croft, eat your heart out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: All I possibly own is the storyline…Takahashi-sama owns the characters!

**A/N**: Coarse language and violence alert…yes, Devon, a LARGE can of whoop-ass is about to be opened…borrowed your line, too.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ **

**Exchanged: Part Seven**

**Battle Zone**

Kazu paced along, trying not to jar me very much. I was staring around like a rube on a spree in the big city. So many dogs… so many demons. And this was only _one_ clan. I wondered how many more dog clans there might be. As we moved through the pack, a soft chorus of woofs and yips began to swell, until Inuyasha was serenaded with full-throated howls when he stepped forward to lift me down from Kazu's back.

"Oi, Rin…wave to acknowledge these bastards, because they won't stop until you do!" he shouted up at me over the din. I twisted around and waved wildly in all directions; the howling died down immediately, except for the lone joker who yipped like a coyote a couple of times in the silence.

Inuyasha's eyes grew large when I slid into his arms. He took a couple of really deep sniffs. "Holy gods, Rin…you're pupped for sure!"

I just managed to not roll my eyes. "If one more demon reminds me I'm impregnated, I'm going to yank their pointy little ears. Didn't you know that on Monday morning?"

"Nope. You just smelled like mating; that's why Sesshomaru didn't let you clean up first, before introducing you to the court. He wanted to make sure everyone knew that he was claiming you… it takes a couple of days for the pregnancy scent to develop. Sesshomaru would _never _have let you go if he knew you were carrying his pup."

"He couldn't stop me from rescuing Tai."

He grinned at me. "He would have tried…even if he had to tie you up himself. He's been impossible to live with for the past day or so…glad you're back." He took my elbow, just like on that night in Asakusa, and guided me towards Kagome, who was sitting poised and ladylike on a small outcropping.

I stopped, and whispered, "Inuyasha, Koga is planning an attack tonight on the land forces."

His face turned dark. "When?"

"The third hour after moonrise."

"Damn that fucker straight to hell…how do you know this?"

"He showed up at Kagura's compound just before we left…Inuyasha, he intends to kill you."

This time my brother-in-law smirked ferally, the tips of his canines jutting out. "The stupid asshole has been trying for the last few years, Rin… Kagome just won't accept that his brain's gone warped from all that time with the tainted Jewel shards in his wimpy body."

I dropped my voice further. "He's also planning to kill Tai and Tsuki, and then force Kagome to mate him." Inuyasha stiffened, and his eyes bled crimson, faint ragged stripes coming startlingly to life under the skin of his cheeks. He snarled, a dark and dangerous sound. I stepped backwards a pace.

Inuyasha shook himself a bit, obviously trying to control himself. "The kids are at the clan building, with a sizeable force, including Shippo and Kirara protecting them."

"So the land forces are split again… they may only attack us as a diversion here."

His eyes sharpened. "Sesshomaru said you were always pretty good at tactics…what do you think they'll try?"

Me? Good with tactics? Maybe in trying to wangle an extra day off from work, or when mooching a coffee…

My brain started turning over, anyways. A really horrifying thought occurred to me. "Could Lady Kagetsu have planted some explosives around the building?"

"Doubt it; someone would have smelled them."

"Even if they were plastic explosives? What if… oh, no…"

"Oh, no, _what_?"

"Has the parking garage been searched for a truck bomb?"

He looked a bit startled, but expectant, while I frantically searched my brain for the relevant details of the Oklahoma City bombing. I grabbed his arm. "Someone has to check for fertilizer and diesel smells in the garage…and then get the vehicle in question out of the enclosed space…it could bring down a building easily."

He was surprised; I was even more so. Since when did I know how to tie shit like this together? _Right_, of course… Recovering, I straightened up, and grinned at him. "I found all my memories while Kagura had me, so there was an upside to being terrorized…"

Like General Tsume, Inuyasha took a couple more deep experimental sniffs, then caught my chin in his fingers. "Whose blood-scent is on you, Rin?"

"That bastard Moto's"

It was easier to say this time; the words didn't stick in my throat anymore.

His grin was even more animalistic, with his longer fangs gleaming in the moonlight. "Good girl… everyone said that you had it in you… the dagger came in handy?"

I thought back to the whole gory event. "Ummm, sort of…I'll give you the details later."

He nodded. "Rin, you need to tell Kagome what Koga's intentions are, because she's in some serious denial. I'll send word to Shippo to search the garage and the building again. Fertilizer, you said?"

"Any smell that isn't where it should be, or have a reasonable excuse to be there."

We moved snappily, until we reached Kagome's perch. I noticed that she was wearing an outfit similar to mine, including the leather jacket and high-collared reinforced vest. A couple of extra bows and a packing crate of arrows were at the base of her rock. She slid down and wrapped me in a surprisingly strong hug for a tiny woman that barely made my chin. "Thank you for Tai, Rin. I can never repay you…"

"Take me for cooking lessons with your mom…that'll do." Inuyasha was giving me significant looks before he turned away to confer with an aide; I took Kagome's arm and led her slightly away from her mate. "Kagome, Koga is planning an attack on us tonight."

She rolled her eyes, sighing. "Koga is an old friend…he'd never do anything serious…he's always trying to embarrass Inuyasha, just like he did five hundred years ago…"

My voice sounded steelier than it ever had before. "He's going to kill Inuyasha and the children, then force you to mate with him, Kagome. I met him at Kagura's compound…I believed him completely when he told her his plans for you. Kagome, he's not the friend he used to be…he was in a rage because Kagura had traded Tai for me. His plan was to bring Tai here, and kill him in front of you and Inuyasha…I'm sorry, but it's true."

She was in shock; her hand flew to her mouth and she stared at me with wide eyes. She started shaking her head; I slowly nodded mine. "I'm sorry, Kagome…but if we meet Koga tonight, you can't show him any mercy. He wouldn't have shown your little boy any…" An arm slid around her shoulders, and I stepped away as Inuyasha enfolded Kagome in his arms, holding her snugly against his chest as she cried.

Seiji crooked his finger at me; I hopped down the rocks towards him. He handed me a spear, smiling. "I trust you know how to use this, my lady? It always was your weapon of choice." I looked up the long shaft, noting that it had what looked like a very sharp sword blade mounted on the end, and then grinned weakly at him.

"The pointy end is the sharp one, right?" His eyes widened in disbelief. I shrugged. "I have all my memories…but not abilities."

He whistled through his teeth. "This could be trickier than we thought…"

"Oi! Seiji! Bring 'er back up here…she's going to spot for Kagome. _You_ lot come with them, and stay in humanoid form," he pointed a claw at Dai, Jin and Kazu in turn. "You're hereby designated to be Rin's personal guard. I don't have to tell you how much shit you'll be in if she gets hurt, right?"

"Thanks for asking for volunteers, _your lordship_," Jin muttered.

"I heard that, mouse-breath…Seiji, you're in charge. Rin, you watch Kagome's back and keep an eye out for those damn ravens sneaking in overhead. Try not to poke anybody with that spear…unless they're a wolf, of course." Inuyasha turned, and was at the top of the rock outcropping in a fluid leap. He raised the Tetsusaiga overhead, and emitted a howl that made the hair on the back of my neck go up. Every head snapped up; hundreds of eyes focussed on the statue completely silvered by the brilliant moonlight.

He looked like a god…until he opened his mouth.

"Listen up, ya mangy fuckers! We have extra guests arriving tonight! The ravens are bringing a large pack of wolves, so we'll be about even." He paused. "_Give no quarter, and expect none_! It's time we finished this…For your info, that asshole Koga is mine…anybody who takes him out will be dealing with _me,_ so stay out of his way. He's gonna kill me…" Loud shouts of laughter broke out among the ranks; Inuyasha grinned, and made a whistling swipe with Tetsusaiga. "The wimpy wolf thinks big, as always…watch out for those damn ravens trying to rip out your backbone…ask Kusumi what that feels like, if you really want to know. Sesshomaru and Tsume are still busy with Kagura, so we may have to do without their help…shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The chorus of howling and barking that erupted had me plugging my ears. Someone touched my shoulder, and I swung around. Kagome jumped back, holding up a hair elastic. "I was just going to tie your hair back, Rin…it might get in the way." I nodded, and allowed her to quickly braid my hair. When she was done, I turned to thank her, and she hugged me tightly again.

"Kagome? Are you okay?" She was trembling, and close to tears again.

"I just can't believe…Koga…he really wants to kill Tai and Tsuki?"

"He's not the demon you remember…something is twisted and dark inside him, Kagome; I'm really, really sorry." I wrapped my arms around her and just held her.

A voice attached to a very large smirk interrupted. "I like a little girl-on-girl action as much as the next guy, but we really _do_ need to take up battle stations, ladies." We broke apart, and both turned scorching glares on an inu-youkai that was just a little too pleased with himself. He didn't even flinch, just spun the hilt of his katana in his hand before he sheathed it.

"There are times when I really wish I hadn't taken off that rosary…" Kagome grimaced.

"I'm glad he's yours…If he was mine, I'd probably have killed him by now… and I've only been around him since Saturday night!"

A series of short, sharp howls from the far perimeter caught all our attention. "Here they come…get your arrows flaring, _itoshii_…there's demon-extermination to be done tonight."

Kagome and I scrambled to the foot of the rock; she took double fistfuls of arrows to complement those already in her quiver, and then Inuyasha scooped her up and sprang to the top. Sighing, I gabbed a couple of handfuls myself, and began picking my way up and around to join them. They were in the middle of a deep, passionate kiss. I kept my back to them, and pretended to be looking for ravens against the moonlight, while wondering when I would see Sesshomaru.

The heck with it. I wanted a kiss, too…and a hug, and maybe even a discreet grope to buck up my morale, preferably from a tall, handsome taiyoukai with spiffy facial markings. And sexy hair. And a firm, muscled…

Instead, I was squished in a rough embrace by a rude, crude, dog-eared hanyou with a 'tude. "Don't worry, Rin… Sesshomaru will be here soon…but until he shows, I'll guard you and the kid with my life…" I grabbed for his ears; he caught my wrist, tugging me toward Kagome, and showed me how to pick out the dark silhouettes of the ravens against the darkened sky.

"I'll sweep the perimeter of this outcropping…Seiji! You got that motley crew of yours organized yet? Lady Rin is up _here_, so don't you think you ought to be as well?"

"We didn't want to interrupt your fond farewell to Lady Kagome's tonsils, _sir_…"

"Kazu, that'll be an extra week of latrine duty…"

A sharp yell from over on the right.

_Game on._

I spent the first part of the battle crouched at Kagome's feet, feeding her arrows as she sent aloft blazing streams of light that looked for all the world like elaborate fireworks. It occurred to me that it was also making it really, really obvious for Koga, if he wanted to know where she was, but then I wondered if he was here at all.

What if he was attacking the building? _Damn_…

"Inuyasha! Is Koga even _here_?"

The hanyou bounded up to us, flicking the blood off his claws. A fierce light burned in his eyes, and I realized that those frayed cheek stripes and elongated fangs were very much in evidence. "He's here, all right…I can smell him. Keep your eyes peeled, girls…_Damn_, I can't use the 'wind scar' because our forces are mixed together, so it's all hand-to-hand…" He dove off the outcropping, and disappeared into a surging, writhing mass of bodies that made me think of a mosh pit. A mosh pit with claws and fangs as well as sweat.

I felt something swish over our heads; I reacted, and swatted at it with the spear in my hand…and received a hair rinse that I didn't want to think about. Kagome was spattered, too, and her grey eyes were wide when she looked over at me, blood dripping down my face. She grinned suddenly and leaned over. "Keep your eyes open until you make contact…then close 'em so you're not blinded if you get sprayed with something!"

I could think of a certain TV hostess-with-the-mostest who would cringe at that piece of advice. File that along with 'how to get red wine stains out of linen table cloths'…

Smearing sticky raven-youkai internal fluids off my face and wiping my hands on Moto's hakama, I jumped down to grab more ammunition for Kagome; she continued to fire, using arrows from her quiver. Dai came up from the perimeter and stood behind her, a long sword in his clawed hands, watching for ravens. Kagome had managed to pick off at least two dozen so far; and if an arrow was undamaged, it seemed to find its way back up to the outcropping for re-use. I had a momentary, dizzying vision of little demonic ball-boys and –girls, racing between the battling adults, retrieving fallen arrows to return to us.

Wimbledon, this ain't, and those weren't tennis racquets. The image in my head made me hesitate just a moment too long. _Something _whooshed past my head, so close that I instinctively ducked, dropping the arrows as I brought my arm up.

Koga stood above me; I could see his tail swishing back and forth about six feet above my head as he balanced lightly on the rock. I grabbed my spear and raced around and up to join Dai and Kagome. They appeared frozen; but I noticed that Kagome had an arrow charged up, and was aiming it at his chest. Koga didn't seem to have a blade in his hand, even though I could see a katana hilt poking out from under his arm.

Then I remembered that his claws were the most dangerous part of him. His eyes glittered darkly, and a most unpleasant smirk crossed his features as he slowly raked Kagome up and down. The smirk changed to a snarl when he tore his eyes off of her long enough to notice me beside her.

"Well, well…the two bitches of the Western Lands…Kagura obviously fucked up somewhere if you're here, Rin…Take a number…I'll kill you _after_ I'm done gutting that mutt…"

"The only death here will be yours, Koga!" Kagome's voice trembled, but held. Her hands barely shook at all. "You want to kill my pups and my mate…I'll never forgive you for even _planning_ to do that, you bastard!"

"Now, Kagome, that's no way to address your new mate…if all went as planned, your pups are already dead, and your so-called 'mate' is soon to follow…" I heard a sharp intake of breath when he said that. Koga began to stalk forward; Kagome didn't budge, but just calmly drew her bowstring right back to her cheek. I could hear her counting under her breath. The wolf prince crouched, tensing for a spring…and then there was a flare of light, a sizzling sound, a shout…and Koga lay neatly bisected on the rocks, a glowing arrow protruding from his chest, a look of surprise on his face, his intense blue eyes filming over rapidly. Inuyasha stood over the body, his eyes hidden by his bangs, Tetsusaiga's blade glistening red.

Déjà vu all over again… I edged over behind Dai, standing back to back with him, and looked up at the stars again, counting slowly until my stomach stopped flipping. Behind me, I heard Kagome whimpering softly, and then Inuyasha's voice gently rumbling. I glanced over. They were wrapped in each other's arms, the rest of the world shut out. I got the distinct feeling that a page had been turned in their lives; I hoped it would be a positive one.

Apparently the wolves decided to avenge Koga's demise, instead of retreating in disorder.

Bad move, as a retreat might have saved both sides a great deal of misery.

The battle, which had paused momentarily at the drama on the rock, rejoined with intensity. The wolves began pushing harder, fighting like creatures deranged, with the result that the perimeter around our position began to shrink as the dogs were forced back. Simultaneously, Dai and I noticed Seiji, Kazu and Jin in difficulties, facing down at least twice their number as they tried not to stumble in the face of the wolves' frenzied attacks. Dai bolted down to reinforce them; I followed.

Then Kazu took a spear thrust in the chest, and fell beneath their feet. The boys couldn't do anything to help her, and the wolf that downed her began dragging her into their lines.

That icy anger exploded inside me, and I raced down the rocks. My spear suddenly felt just right in my hand; I reached the line, and drove the tip deep into the wolf's chest. Seiji roared, and swung the battle-axe he carried with two hands, taking the wolf through the ribs. I yanked the spear out, ignored the resulting gushing and spewing, and dodged around behind Seiji to protect his unguarded left side. He reached down, gripped Kazu by her armour, and threw her back behind us before swinging to square up to his next opponent. Only then did he seem to register that it was me at his shoulder. "Go back, Lady Rin…get Kazu out of here!"

Running to the fallen demon, I got in behind her and locked my arms around her ribs, under her arms, and began dragging her upslope towards Kagome's position. Kazu was damned heavy as a dead weight; I already knew that from hauling her butt home from a few bars, but I'd managed before without so much adrenaline surging through my veins. When I laid her out next to the other casualties, I realized that the damage was in her shoulder, and wasn't likely life-threatening. As I leaned over her, she opened her eyes and regarded me fuzzily. I grinned, and ruffled her bangs. "It's your lucky day, Kazu-chan…you get to see my shining face, _and_ you owe me a beer for saving your ass."

I stood up, spear in hand, and looked around. Another demon had come up to provide backup for Kagome, who was still firing arrows; ravens and wolves were dying like, well, flies, but they seemed to keep coming. Inuyasha's blade was flashing, down in the middle of it all, but as he cleared a space, it would fill again with bodies charging at him. Our perimeter was shrinking a pace at a time… Desperate, I threw a thought into the ether, something along the pithy lines of '_Dammit_, Sesshomaru…where the _hell_ are you?'…

…And on cue, the air cavalry arrived. _Hot damn_.

I knew _exactly_ how a trapped unit felt in the jungles of Vietnam when they heard the distinctive chop-chop-chop of a Huey, loaded and ready for bear, heading towards their position on a rescue mission.

The first signs of the tide turning were dark bullets falling out of the stars. Ravens exploded into bloodied balls of feathers, and wolves started screaming as sharp talons drove into their bodies. The hellish sounds grew in volume…

…and then Sesshomaru arrived. His eyes were aflame over thoroughly frayed cheek stripes, his white clothing, armour and pelt were thoroughly splattered with dark red, his claws and sword were coated in dripping gore.

He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

From a height of around fifty feet, his eyes locked on mine; I flushed, and waggled my spear at him. He seemed to understand whatever it was I signalled, because he nodded. Wiping off his blade on his hakama, he sheathed it, then turned…and became a massive airborne white dog. He was easily twice the size of any other dog on the battlefield. Touching down briefly, shaking the ground, he dropped his massive head to sniff at Koga's corpse, then raised his muzzle and _howled_…and then in the moment of silence that followed, he charged into where the fighting was thickest.

It was sheer butchery that followed. I watched through my fingers, flinching.

"Rin! Up here!" Kagome beckoned. From a slightly higher rock, we were able to see the exact moment that the wolves broke and ran. Sesshomaru was easy to pick out, as his size and his glowing coat were rather obvious, but we could also see flashes of silver as Inuyasha helped him mop-up. Another howled command stopped our forces from pursuing the rabble any further.

Kagome produced a canteen from somewhere. We both took a long drink, and I rinsed my face with a handful of water. We both nearly fell off the rock we were sitting on at the sound of feathers rustling softly behind us. With matching yells, Kagome and I swung around, arrow flaming and spear pointing…to find a large brown owl blinking sheepishly at us. His silhouette wavered and shrank…and General Tsume looked up at us. Kagome shook her arrow at him.

"Sesshomaru wouldn't have been too pleased if I'd purified his best general…"

He inclined his head. "It would have been my fault entirely, Lady Kagome…I should know much better than to come up on either of you without announcing my presence."

She 'humphed' in response.

He cleared his throat. "I also wished to inform you that the attack on the building was successfully beaten off, with very few casualties. There was a car bomb, as Lady Rin guessed, but if it was defused without damage. Master Tai and Mistress Tsuki are safe…" That was as far as he got, before Kagome launched herself at him and hugged him tightly before kissing him on the cheek. He still looked rather dazed when Jin came over to make a report…

I noted Seiji crouching next to a still-prone Kazu, and slid down the rock, intending to go to them. I was forestalled when Seiji held out his hand, and she reached up to grab it, and then slowly stood up. She then walked with him over to a group of transformed dogs, and they began chatting as if nothing had happened. I was still goggling, when Kagome elbowed me.

"Remember, it's hard to kill them, short of decapitation…and they heal really fast. Kazu's wound mustn't have been too deep, even if it knocked her out for a while. Oh, here come our boys…!" She dashed off to throw herself at a very ratty-looking Inuyasha, who caught her on the fly and swung her around with him. Sesshomaru alighted about ten feet from me, back in human form and cleaning his hands on his bespattered kimono sleeves. He watched Kagome's enthusiastic greeting of her mate…and then looked at me.

My first instinct was to follow suit, and fling myself at him, but instead… I froze. That etiquette book would come in really handy about now… I had a very strong feeling that Public Displays of Affection were found on a page entitled Do Not Attempt in large, bolded print. Inuyasha _had_ cleared the room before we said our goodbyes on Monday… my memory banks were inconveniently empty.

Fuck the demonic Emily Posts. I wanted a piece of taiyoukai ass.

Oh, my. I'd been hanging around Inuyasha and his mouth too much.

_What the hell_…the etiquette books were long-overdue for a re-write anyways.

I dropped the spear, and pounced. Sesshomaru obviously had the same idea, because we met halfway, although I was the one nearly taken off my feet by a rush of silver and white. I found myself being held slightly away from his body, while being kissed very, very thoroughly by a very, very intense Sesshomaru. When he finally let me catch my breath, I just stared at him for a moment, then went to throw my arms around him. He held me off, and I thought I'd overstepped some boundary, until I realized he didn't want me skewering myself on his spiky breastplate.

Can't you see the headline? "Lady of the Western Lands Meets Her Demise In Passionate Embrace / See Page Three for the Exclusive Story!"

A couple of cords were loosened, and Sesshomaru let the sharp bits thud to the ground. His golden eyes darkened as he slid his arms around me, and he kissed me again until I melted into him; then he seemed satisfied, and held me tight while he breathed in the scent of the skin next to my ear. It had to smell better than the leave-in rinse of youkai guts my hair was sporting… After a moment, he pulled away slightly, and brought up a hand to cup my chin. His golden eyes, with their beautifully-etched markings, studied my face carefully.

I saw many things in his eyes at that moment, his emotions flickering through the whole gamut of concern, relief, happiness, love. I understood the shades and tints of those eyes, knew I was meant to be with him, knew that he was mine. My mate. I felt like a restraining band had been removed from my heart, and I smiled, reaching up to run my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, and pull his lips down to mine. When we broke for air, I pressed my cheek against his stripes, fluttering my eyelashes against his warm skin. "I love you," I crooned softly, enjoying the feeling of having him near, warm, solid and _safe_.

"Beloved…" His breath sighed over my ear, and I trembled slightly. I tightened my arm around his waist, and took a gentle grip on the back of his neck, pressing myself closer to him and rubbing my cheek against his. I was rewarded by a fine tremour going through his slender frame. I suddenly felt quite daring, and a bit mischievous.

"As soon as we get home, I'm personally inspecting you for damage…and I'll gut whoever interrupts me…" I whispered. He snorted lightly, then tilted his head so he could see the sparkle in my eyes, and the blush on my cheeks. A slow smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and reached all the way to his eyes, giving them that molten quality that promised a great deal of pleasurable interaction in the immediate future.

"As you wish, Rin…so long as I am permitted to return the favour." Sesshomaru rubbed the tip of his nose against mine, then suddenly dipped and burrowed his face against my throat, between my skin and the collar of the vest. I felt two deep inhalations…and noticed out of the corner of my eye that Inuyasha and Kagome were watching us intently.

Sesshomaru pulled back, looking deeply into my eyes, a wide smile lighting his features. "_Aisai_, you smell absolutely…."

"_Please_ don't say _pregnant_!" I groaned.

"…wonderful."

Inuyasha yelped with laughter. "Geez, Rin, and here I was hoping I'd see you tweak Sesshomaru's ears for _reminding_ you…"

That smile still in place, Sesshomaru lowered his lashes for a moment, his gaze fixed on my lips. "My lady can tweak anything she likes, so long as she takes pleasure in it…" then gave me that _look_, which nearly buckled my knees, and I just had to kiss him again.

Somebody cleared their throat behind us, and we both turned and glared at General Tsume. He shuffled his feet a bit. "My lords, and ladies, it nears dawn…we should return to Tokyo. The casualties have been taken care of, and the forces are ready to move out."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Very good, General. Give the necessary orders, and we will meet with you tomorrow evening to review the course of the battle, and plan how to strike back at Kagura before she can regroup."

He tightened his grip on me when I stiffened in shock. "I apologize, beloved; the wind witch escaped us at the end. She left her troops to be slaughtered and fled, like the coward she is. _She will not harm you_, I swear it."

I met his eyes. "She'll try again, I know she will…especially now, because it would hurt you even more…" His only answer was to clasp me close again, his chin on my shoulder, his hair slipping forward to shield us. After a moment, I stepped back; his hands fell to my hips. I riffled my fingers through his pelt, which was looking rather the worse for wear and felt rather grimy, and then looked up at him with a grin.

"You looked like something the cat dragged in, and I can imagine what the raven-gut hair treatment is doing for my scent, so I think its time we went home, _danna_."

"Can we catch a ride home with you, Sesshomaru? I want to see my babies as soon as possible…" Kagome's voice was sweetly pleading. He extended an elegant hand to her; she took it, smiling broadly, and pulled Inuyasha close to us. I linked my arm through Inuyasha's free one, and then we were all enveloped in light and speeding away from the battlefield, towards the lights of Tokyo and _home_.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: All I possibly own is the storyline…Takahashi-sama owns the characters!

**A/N**: **Lemon alert!** Well, of course Rin is _really_ happy to have her Big Dog back…once again, if you are too young for an 'M' rating, go no farther.

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**Exchanged: Part Eight**

**Dawn**

It took longer than I expected to have a shower.

When we arrived at the apartment building, the marks of the battle that occurred here were all over the place, and being rapidly cleaned up in the predawn darkness. A large, greasy-looking black scorch mark on the granite sheathing beside the ground entrance was being power-washed away; I didn't really want to know what caused it. The car that was intended to blow up the building was being loaded, very carefully, onto a flat-bed tow truck to be disposed of.

Casualties on our side had been relatively light; Kagome had apparently set some pretty powerful spiritual barriers around the core of the building where the children were, and absolutely nothing had penetrated them. The attackers had been thoroughly fried, though, in the process of figuring that out.

We were greeted enthusiastically by the dog forces gathered in the parking garage…do you have any idea what full-throated howling sounds like when done in a confined space? I'd rather be stuck in an elevator with an off-key marching band…

Okay, I might have been a _little_ bit tired and cranky by that time.

The reunion with the children made up for it, though. Tai and Tsuki were still up, or were woken up, when we trailed down the corridor towards our apartments. The door opposite ours slammed open, and Tai came racing towards us at full throttle, Tsuki not far behind. He deftly dodged his father's open arms and flung himself at me. Good thing I was still wearing the vest, because otherwise the bruising would have been quite colourful. Tai tackled me with all his body weight; Sesshomaru graciously provided padding for my impact, and we thumped into a tangle on the hallway floor.

"Rin! Rin! Mommy an' Daddy an' Unca Sess brought you back!" He hugged me tightly enough to leave me gasping, then climbed over me to grip Sesshomaru around the neck, before whacking him in the arm and diving at his mother. Tsuki squirmed out of Inuyasha's arms and ran to Sesshomaru. Since he was sitting down already, his legs trapped under me, he didn't have far to fall over when she landed on his chest. He still managed to do _that_ gracefully.

She buried her face in his neck, repeating "Unca Sess…Unca Sess…" over and over again while he sat up, cradling her close. She pulled away and looked into his eyes intently. "Unca Sess make bad birdies go 'way?" He nodded, kissing her little hand. "Win stay wif us now?" He raised glimmering golden eyes to me; I smiled back.

"Auntie Rin is not going anywhere…in fact, Tsuki-chan, soon you will have a small cousin to play with."

The wee girl started, her hands gripping his, and then jumped on me, squealing. For a tiny thing, she had a heck of a hug…definitely took after her mother. I got at least two kisses per cheek, and then she scurried to Kagome, dislodging her brother, who happily started punching his dad in the shoulder. I stood up first, and offered Sesshomaru my hand; he rose regally from the floor.

It was really going to suck being pregnant around him; I mean, you're already feeling oh-so-lovely, and then your preternaturally-elegant husband can't help reminding you that you have all the grace of a belly-flopping hippo…

I'm getting ahead of myself.

After another round of hugs, the other half of the family disappeared behind their door, and Sesshomaru opened ours. A couple of aides hovered, hopeful; he shook his head, and they withdrew. I wondered how much paperwork all of this was going to entail, and did a mental jig that it was unlikely I'd have to do any of it, triplicate or not. Uh-oh. Maybe I _would_ be back slaving over a desk…I had a feeling that I was going to find out, since being Lady of the Western Lands probably had some strings attached. The fringe benefits were looking pretty good…well, aside from the 'increased risk of kidnapping by hostile parties' sub-paragraph.

I walked in, and stopped in the foyer, unbuckling the just-slightly-too-tight vest and dropping it, while breathing in the air of _home. _It was now very early Wednesday morning; I had left here Monday evening, not sure if I'd ever come back. Not even three days since Saturday night, when I'd discovered demons in my life, just over two days since I'd mated Sesshomaru and become a mother-to-be.

Actually, I was still more scared of my mother's reaction than anything Kagura could dish up.

Sesshomaru closed the door, and came up behind me, dropping his slender clawed fingers onto my shoulders. "What would you like first, _aisai_…?" he murmured suggestively, his hands straying to the zipper of the leather jacket. I chuckled, and pulled away, turning to face him.

"A really hot shower, a pitcher of cold beer and a double cheeseburger…"

His brows furrowed. "The witch did not feed you?"

"Actually, she has quite a decent cook…it wasn't the food, or lack thereof, that was dangerous to me…it was the company she kept." A vision of Moto's leering face passed in front of my eyes; I couldn't suppress a shudder and reached for Sesshomaru, burying myself in his shoulder. His arms tightened around me, and I sighed happily.

"Why don't you run the bath, Rin…I will summon the cook…"

"No, leave the poor bastard to sleep…I'm sure he'll be very busy tomorrow…if you decide to do some catering, don't you _dare_ slice anything up with those claws of yours, mister!" I shook my finger at him, he smirked and caught it in his teeth, nibbling the tip gently, while watching my face for a reaction.

I swatted him. "Down, boy…" He released my wrist, arching his eyebrows and looking down his nose at me in pretended annoyance,then glided towards the kitchen. When he was safely on the other side of the room, I unzipped the jacket, and dumped it on the tiled foyer with the vest in a malodorous heap. The boots were a relief…they were just a bit too small, and my toes were happy to be free, especially when the less-than-fresh socks came off, too. I also stripped off the bloodied hakama, and wished that there was a fireplace where I could watch them burn. The strips of tee-shirt I'd tied around my thighs were also discarded; they'd nearly worked their way down into the boot tops by the time we arrived home.

I carefully rubbed my hands across the broken skin, wincing when the edges caught. These were going to be like the worst paper cuts I'd ever had…

Wearing only my self-cropped t-shirt, and Sesshomaru's very-well-worn dress shirt, (the long tails covered anything risque) I paused by the bedroom door and waited until he noticed. "Don't wait too long to join me…the hot water is going to run out with everybody showering tonight!" and then whisked in the door before he could demonstrate his demonic speed.

I started filling the two-sumo-wrestler-capacity tub, then stripped everything else off and jumped into the shower. The water running into the cuts on my legs made me flinch, but I'd had worse injuries from wiping out on my bike as a kid. I just stood under the faucet, head bowed, eyes closed, feeling very, very contented. When I opened them, I noticed that the water draining away was an interesting shade of brownish-red…eeyew. Time to wash that demon right outta my hair…

Of course, I had a full head of shampoo, and my eyes were tightly closed when Sesshomaru chose to make his presence known. After all I'd been through in the last couple of days, he was darn lucky I didn't knock him right back through the shower door when he curled his bare arms around my body and nearly made me jump out of my skin. "Geez, Sesshomaru…are you trying to scare me half to death? Didn't think you'd want to finish me off that quickly…"

I heard a distinct growl, and then felt his claws lightly tracing the length of the cuts on my legs. I hoped that General Tsume had already told him what was up, because I didn't really want to have that conversation right now. "It's okay, _danna_…Moto didn't get any farther than this..."

"He went too far just by _looking_ at you." The dark tone made it completely obvious what Sesshomaru would have done to Moto, if he'd got his claws into him. I ducked my head under the water stream, and rinsed my hair as thoroughly as possible, pulling the curly mass forward to finger-comb out the tangles. I almost missed Sesshomaru's next words, spoken into the nape of my neck.

"I regret that I was not there to protect you, _aisai_." His arms wrapped me against him, his face pressing into my shoulder. I gripped his wrists, splaying my fingers over the red striping.

"S'okay…I managed. I'm going to need a bit of practise with that spear, though, if we have to fight Kagura again."

He didn't say anything to that, just loosened his grip and slowly ran his hands over my curves while making sure that he was pressed as closely against me as possible. I did a final rinse of my hair, and he braced my hips with his hands, turning me to face him. Eyes still closed against the water, I fumbled for his shoulders, and was startled when they dropped out from under my hands.

Arms wrapped around my hips and thighs, and he pressed his face against my belly. I wiped away the water, and looked down as he started rumbling deep in his throat, while slowly rubbing his cheek against my skin. Puzzled, I stroked his bangs away from his face, traced the crescent moon on his forehead, and ran my fingers through his thick hair. He was going to need a shampoo, too…he had more icky stuff in his hair than I did. I bent over slightly to see his face. His eyes were closed, as he rumbled in a soothing rhythm. Then I realized what he was doing.

He was talking to the baby.

I nearly started to cry. Damn hormones…starting already? To distract myself, I lightly stroked down the side of his face, down his neck and across his shoulders with my fingertips. He kept at his soothing of our unborn pup, his fingers massaging little circles on my back. Then suddenly, something Kagura said jabbed me in the gut, and I stiffened. Sesshomaru sensed my change in stance, and slid up my body until he was holding me loosely around the waist, our hips pressed together. I had trouble meeting his eyes, and instead fiddled with a lock of his hair.

"What is it, beloved?" His voice was a deep rumble.

"Sesshomaru, does it…does it bother you…that this baby will be… a half-breed?" He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, before bringing up both hands to cradle my face. I swear my heart stopped, waiting on his answer. His eyes, when he opened them, were dark honey shot with golden fire.

"The creature that I was…the creature that _bloodline_ was so important to…died a long time ago, and I do not mourn him _at all_. He was a very pitiable creature, to have based so much of his value system on a mistaken belief." He slid his hands down to cup my shoulders, and then drew me back into his arms, cradling me like I was the finest porcelain.

"The day I admitted to myself that I loved you, it was like I could see clearly for the first time…I was reborn that day…and have never looked back. You are everything to me, Rin…the gift of your love saved me from myself."

Well, what are you going to do after a declaration like that? _Of course_ I kissed him breathless…

After a few long moments of being lost in each other, he had to dash out to turn off the water in the tub. Floor drains are a really, _really_ handy things to have… We took turns soaping each other up, and I indulged a recent fantasy by helping shampoo his knee-length hair. The silky strands were practically Teflon-coated…hoped the kid took after him there.

Thoroughly rinsed, I escaped his still-slippery grip, gave him a sultry wink, and hopped straight into the massive soaker tub, sloshing a fair bit of water over the lip. _Ah, heaven._ Sinking up to my nose, I closed my eyes, but watched through my lashes as a very fine example of muscular taiyoukai ass lifted a loaded tray off the counter and balanced it across one corner of the tub before stepping in as well, and setting off another display of displacement theory when he seated himself against the side, sweeping his hair over to trail outside on the floor. I rather thought it would have been more fun to have it in the water with us, floating and twining around our bodies like silver kelp…maybe next time.

A carafe of water, two glasses and a platter of fresh fruit…okay, maybe not a cheeseburger, but it would do, especially since neither ravens or wolves had been anywhere near it. I shot an interrogative look his way, before pointing silently at the fruit. He grinned mischievously. "It was already prepared..." I grinned, and bit into a piece of melon.

It was cold, sweet, and tasted like ambrosia. I noticed Sesshomaru watching me intently from under lowered lashes, so took another piece and slipped over to offer it to him. Catching my wrist, he ate it from my hand slowly, licking my fingers extremely suggestively, and then pulled me into his lap when I reached to retrieve another piece. I shifted around until I was straddling his thighs, my palms resting lightly against his chest. He brought up a hand to caress my cheek, his eyes darkening and turning molten. "Do you remember the first time I kissed you, Rin? …you tasted like melons that day, too…so sweet and delectable…"

I certainly did remember, and while he was moving in with intent to re-enact that moment, I had a flash of a few other, naughtier memories that had come about as a direct result of that kiss. I smiled against his mouth, and decided to take a few of those ideas out for a romp. Yup, time to see if his erogenous zones were in as good a working condition as I remembered…

Rising up slightly, I gently pinned him against the side of the tub, locking his hips between my knees, and slid my hands up to his shoulders. Breaking the kiss softly, I let him see me moisten my lips, and then leaned in to lightly trace his cheek stripes, running along the indentations in his skin with the tip of my tongue.

He shuddered very nicely, his hands becoming still on my back, his breath stalling.

I ran my fingers through his hair, sweeping it away from his face, and then nibbled lightly on his earlobe before moving to outline the rest of his ear with my lips and tongue, paying particular attention to the tip, which quickly had him trembling. Meanwhile, my hands were now busy on his chest, stroking and caressing his nipples, sweeping over his shoulders and down his arms and back again. Other parts of him were certainly enjoying the sensation; his erection was pressing against my inner thigh, but his steadily more ragged breathing had to be dealt with first. I pulled back, to look into crimson-tinged intensity. I ran my thumb over his lips where his slightly elongated canine tips poked out.

"No transforming tonight, my love…I want to play with you in this form for a while…maybe a cold shower to settle you down?" He tilted his head back, groaning at the suggestion, and I took the opportunity to kiss a path down his throat and across the hard muscles of his chest to his nipples, while my hand slipped down between us to make friends with his masculine appendage.

He seemed to like that. An awful lot.

Sesshomaru snapped his head up, growling ferally into my ear as his claws gripped my hips with possessive strength, pulling me tight against him and trapping my hand between us. His kiss began hard, but then softened and deepened, and he let me loose enough to rub my pubis suggestively against his stomach. I still made no move to lower myself onto him, instead breaking the kiss to repeat my oral investigations of his other cheek-stripes and ear, while keeping up the caressing of other, very responsive parts of his body.

You can have a lot of fun teasing a horny dog demon, if you can handle the inevitable fallout.

Forget it, ladies. He's _mine_. Go find your own taiyoukai to play with.

If Seiji and Hiromi don't work out, I can always give you _his_ cell number…

Freedom of movement was over, so far as my _danna_ was concerned. His hands wrapped up and over my shoulders as he sat up straight, leaning me back slightly, our kisses very, very deep, until he had managed to slide himself oh-so-slowly between my very relaxed thighs. I moaned softly, and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my hands in his hair and my face in his neck. He rumbled, and arched up with his hips, while at the same time using his hands to push me down onto him, until he was so deeply seated inside me that my toes were curling at the sensation. I pulled back to look into his eyes, which were so dark and heavy-lidded, that I finally understood _exactly_ what all those romance novels I used to read meant when they used the term 'lust-filled'…

One arm wrapped around my hips to keep me anchored to him, and the other hand stroked over my breasts, as he gave me a taste of my own medicine. I just writhed, squirmed and moaned as his tongue rasped along my collarbone, nibbled lightly on my pulse and up my neck to trace my jaw line until he began doing incredibly arousing things to my earlobe. I doubted that mine were half as sensitive as his, so it must have been pure torture for him earlier.

Better file that tidbit away for future reference.

"Look at me, _aisai_… open your eyes." Both hands cupped my hips; his voice rumbled through my chest, making my nipples even harder at the sensation. I looked at him, blinking slowly, trying to focus, when all the blood in my body was heading south, and the bit that hung around to help out my vision was complaining about the delay. I was conscious enough to arch my eyebrow quizzically at him; he smiled slowly, his own eyes liquid gold. "I wanted to see what colour your eyes turned when you are aroused…"

"Mmm-hmm…?" I mumbled, focussing on how kissable his mouth looked while working my fingers under his, trying to loosen his grip so that I could start riding him.

"The sky at twilight…you are so beautiful, beloved… in a hurry to go somewhere?" I'd managed to slide his hands further off the curve of my hips, and began moving forcefully against him. He clamped back down, reducing me to frustrated, squirming pouts.

"I'm _dying_ here, Sesshomaru…let me…"

"Not yet, Rin…not yet, my love." Purring, he fisted a handful of hair and tugged my head back, arching my spine, until he could reach my breasts with his lips. _That_ sensation nearly took me over the edge alone, especially when I could feel his fang tips tracing over my skin. I gripped his biceps and helplessly writhed as jolts of pleasure raced from my nipples to my core and back again.

Finally, he released both my hair and my hips, moving his hands to my waist and lifting me slightly away from his hard, taut body. I straightened my neck, flashed what I hoped was a sexy smirk at him (it probably came out as a lopsided leer), reached past his shoulders to take a firm hold on the side of the tub …and began to grind. He shifted his hips under me in a way that made me gasp and tighten up…and then we moved together in an urgent, fast rhythm that didn't last too long before he hissed, shuddering deeply, and let out a strangled shout that might have been my name. As his head fell back, I covered his jaw with tiny kisses, feeling him slowly relax, until he opened his eyes and regarded me rather muzzily, but with a certain glint.

"Thank you, _Lady_ Rin…"

I composed myself a serious face. "You're most welcome, _Lord_ Sesshomaru…" I answered as loftily as possible. His lips quirked and then his claws were dancing lightly over my ribs until I couldn't stop giggling. Gasping, I nuzzled the crook of his neck and curled against him, snuggled as close as I could get without actually crawling inside his skin with him. His claws drew spirals on my back while he gently purred, his breath creating goose bumps across my shoulder. We were still intimately connected and I was still incredibly turned on, but the water was getting cold. What's a girl to do?

Play hard to get, of course. Figured the thrill of the chase might lead to something…

Sesshomaru was caught fairly off-guard when I bounced straight up and over the side of the tub, grabbing a towel from the rack and scooting just out of range before whisking it around me. He sat forward, drawing his legs up and loosely wrapping his arms around them, watching me intently. I paused by the door to dry off, and pretended to just notice his look. "The water got cold…" Tossing my hair, I opened the door and stepped through, dropping the towel on the threshold.

I was tackled before I'd even taken one step farther, but he managed to have us land on the bed.

He hadn't bothered to dry off.

_No_, he doesn't smell like wet dog.

I was pinned down briefly, and locked in a hot, wet, thrashing kiss that ended when his lips and tongue began trailing fire down my body, hovering for the briefest moment over my core, before diving in. I froze for a moment at the unexpected sensation, but was soon screaming and clawing the sheets until I exploded over the edge into that white-hot chasm.

I was still floating somewhere, little white fireworks going off inside my eyelids, when Sesshomaru slid up my body and into place between my thighs. I was barely conscious of him tilting my pelvis, but I woke up quickly enough to hook my legs over his striped hips and hold on tightly for the ride. This time, he definitely howled my name, and I understood the phrase when one of my girlfriends described being 'pounded into the mattress' by one of her conquests.

After a few more minutes of being twined most intimately, he carefully untangled us, moving around until I was cuddled against his side, my head pillowed on his shoulder and the blankets tucked around us. His claws gently stroked through my hair, and he began massaging my scalp. I wrapped my free arm around his body and sighed deeply, just really, really enjoying the moment of complete relaxation.

"Sleep well, my beloved…" his whisper was warm against my hair; I tightened my arm across his chest in answer, and fell almost instantly asleep.

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ**

Something was tickling my ear. I snuffled, and burrowed deeper into the pillow to escape. The annoying tickle started again, and I scrunched up a shoulder, grumbling at the same time. Once again it went away, and I curled up, dreaming almost instantly. I woke up with a start at the sound of a very loud whisper. Right in my ear, as a matter of fact.

"I don' think Auntie Rin _wants_ t' wake up, Tsuki…"

"Twy 'gain, Tai...Unca Sess said she gotta wake up…"

While I was mentally checking to make sure none of my anatomy appeared to be on display to the two little terrors, a small hand patted my cheek. Fairly sure that I was decently covered up, I peeked through my lashes and a curtain of hair to see two pairs of very wide eyes intently staring at me. I pretended to yawn, and rolled over. One of them jumped right over me…probably Tai…and I heard the pattering of little feet, and then the mattress dipped as Tsuki climbed on, too. The heavy breathing in my ear resumed, and I nearly spoiled it by giggling.

"Is she not waking?" Sesshomaru's smooth tones were definitely amused.

"No, Unca Sess…we twied evwyfing!" Tsuki was sounding worried.

"I know! We could tickle 'er! That's what Daddy does t' me…"

"Mmm…no tickling this morning, Tai. She was _very_ tired; why don't you go see what is being prepared for our meal, and _I_ will deal with Auntie Rin?"

" 'kay…hey, you're not gonna tickle her an' leave us out?" Tai sounded highly suspicious that his uncle was going to deny him the pleasure of tormenting me awake. I guessed that he bought the solemn expression and head shake, because he used my shoulder to push off from when he scrambled off the bed, and I heard them gallop out the door, which then closed with a definite 'click'.

I rolled onto my back, and grinned up at him. Sesshomaru smiled back, and slid over next to me, reaching to stroke my cheek. I wound my arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss that didn't have much to do with leaving the room quickly. He pulled back, tracing my lower lip with his claw, his eyes hooded.

"We're getting a lock on the door when our kids are old enough to come barging in…don't want to scar them for life."

"Apropos to that, my brother has already gone through the newspaper, pointedly circling advertisements for 'family sedans' with a large red pen…"

"Guess he really envies you that sports car, huh?" I giggled for a moment before sobering up. "I really ought to phone home today, Sesshomaru. I should tell my parents…about all this."

He arched a fine eyebrow. "Even the ravens, and being kidnapped, and taking part in a youkai civil war?" I reached to stroke his cheek stripes.

"Uh, I think I'll skip that bit…for now. Just the news that they have an…um, _demon-in-law_ and a grandkid on the way will be enough to cause total chaos for a few days at least."

"We will be married in your tradition as well, my love…I understand that the ceremony will be important to your family." I nodded, and he kissed me lightly. "The food is nearly ready, and unless you wish to deal with Inuyasha's ribald comments, I suggest you put on a yukata and quickly join us."

"I can handle Inuyasha…is that door locked, _danna_…?"

His eyes darkened, and his lips curved. "I imagine that _quickly_ can be defined in a number of ways…"

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ**

All things considered, we were seating ourselves around the dining table in record time. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose at me, then rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he no sooner opened his mouth to say something rude when Kagome flew through the door, tying a yukata, her hair rather dishevelled and her lips swollen from kissing. He shut his mouth, avoided my mock-surprised look, and had the grace to blush. It was pretty obvious that they had thoroughly reassured each other that they were indeed alive before going to sleep as well. Ah, revenge is sweet...

Shippo and Sota joined us; the former wore his bandages with a rakish air. Even Kirara wound her way around the table, purring mightily. Despite his apparent aversion to cat hair, Sesshomaru actually petted her, and she curled up at his side. Mrs. Higurashi had been helping in the kitchen, and it certainly was a varied spread set before us. No natto…whew! Eating eggs with chopsticks was a bit weird, so I slid the sunny-side up offering onto a piece of toast before munching it. No miso soup or dried fish for this girl. A slab of steak and some hash browns would have gone down well, though…

After breakfast/brunch, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha disappeared to attend a meeting, and Kagome and I decamped to our respective bathrooms for showers. Poking through the cupboard, I found the sweater set from Sunday and a pair of stretchy pants on the shelves that I guessed were now labelled 'hers' by the staff. Getting dressed wasn't that appealing, but somebody was bound to want to talk to me about Kagura's base of operations at some point.

I was curled up on one of the couches with Tsuki, reading to her out of an English-language storybook, when Sesshomaru came back in. We smiled at each other, until Tsuki elbowed me because the story was interrupted. He sat down beside us, circling my shoulder with one arm and stroked Tsuki's shimmering hair with his claws, leaning his head against mine as I read. Mrs. Higurashi popped in the door, and paused at the sight of us, then smiled brightly and came forward with something in her hands.

"Sota downloaded this from your computer this morning, Sesshomaru…the three of you _do_ make such an adorable picture…"

"Are you referring to this Sesshomaru as 'adorable', Higurashi-san?" He gave her a regally icy look; she only laughed, and handed him the piece of paper. It was the photo taken on Sunday night; Tsuki and I looking at the camera, our floral crowns a little askew, my cheek against her dark head; Sesshomaru's eyes were on me, his arms wrapped around us.

"Uncle Sess _is_ adorable, isn't he, Tsuki-chan?"

We both giggled at his growl, and then Mrs. Higurashi held out her hand to Tsuki. "Come along, sweetlet…Uncle Sota printed off some colouring pages for you." The little girl hopped off my lap, and scampered along beside her grandmother, turning at the door to blow us kisses.

I closed the book, and looked up at Sesshomaru. He was smiling softly, and reached to tuck a stray wisp behind my ear. "I hope our child has your eyes, _aisai_…and your curls."

I crawled half-way into his lap, made myself comfortable against his chest, and began braiding a lock of his hair. "A boy or a girl?"

"That is immaterial…so long as it is _ours_, Rin." I remembered the miscarriage of our first pup, and wrapped my arms around my middle, shivering. He hugged me, realizing what I was thinking. "Do not worry, beloved…this pup smells healthy and strong already. It was completely different last time; you and he will be fine…"

I snapped my head up. "_He_?"

He looked shifty all of a sudden. "A mere slip of the tongue, my love…" Then he handed me the handset. I just looked at him wordlessly, completely distracted from trying to wheedle more information out of him by 'slipping my tongue' in his ear. The smile reached his eyes. "It is an appropriate time to call your parents, Rin…"

Oh, _shit_.

I'll admit to breaking out into an immediate cold sweat, and drawing a blank on my home phone number for a moment, but then I remembered and pressed the buttons with shaking fingers. The line crackled, then cleared, and I listened to the dial tone. I realized that I was clutching Sesshomaru's fingers in a death grip, and forced myself to let go, instead resting my fingertips on his wrist stripes. He started gently massaging the back of my head with his other hand's claw tips, so that when I heard my mother's voice, I managed to not drop the handset.

"Hello?"

"Hi, mom…it's me…"

"Rhiannon, darling!" Her voice became fainter for a moment as she called my dad. "Robert…! Rhiannon's on the phone…We were just talking about you and wondering what you've been up to!"

I took a deep breath, locking eyes with Sesshomaru. He nodded encouragingly, his lips twitching into a smile. "It's been kind of busy lately, actually. Um…I-I have a couple of surprises for you, mom…first, I'd like you to say hello to your new de…son-in-law…"

**finis**

**Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ Ψ**

**A/N:** Before anyone says "No _way_ would that happen in real life!"…my cousin did _exactly_ this to his parents when he phoned them in the middle of the night, collect, from Australia and introduced his pregnant wife to them…first they knew he even _had_ a girlfriend…'course, his wife is a Kiwi, not an inu-youkai…

All good things must come to an end…Thanks for coming along for the ride!

If I can get that sequel-laden plot bunny to hold still, we'll find out what Kagura has up her sleeve… I have a couple of other story ideas to trot out first, so be patient…don't throw things, please! ducks behind monitor


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